Take Things As They Come
by Basketballgirl Kaitlin
Summary: James's 16 year old daughter, Lulu, is ordered to become a 00 agent after her father passes away from a fatal gunshot injury. Her first assignment is to track down a psychopathic Mafia boss known as Dr. Lobster. She is joined with her best friend, Arnie, and CIA Agent, Felix Leiter, to head for Shanghai and stop the man before China and its people are extirpated.
1. Chapter 1: Lurking In The Dark

**Chapter 1: Lurking In The Dark:**

( _Shanghai, China; 1965_ )

A somewhat cold night in one of China's largest cities. The streets were not too crowded, and businesses received their usual customer service. At InterContinental Shanghai Pudong Hotel, an important international business convention was taking place in the main lounge and about to wrap up for the night. A big, spacious room with golden yellow walls to complement the brown carpeted flooring. A delicate design made from a series of browns and greens throughout the carpeting. There was a stage at the very front of the room where guest speakers came out and did presentations for the visiting businessmen. In the center of the stage was a podium with two plants sitting on each side of it, and blue curtains to complete the setting.

CID agent, Ying Chiang, was on assignment disguised as another businessman to meet his contact. There was important information the contact had that needed to be sent back to MI6 in Great Britain and the CIA in the United States immediately, and Ying had been chosen to go out and retrieve it.

While the rest of the businessmen were at different tables and discussing their work with one another, in the back left corner was Ying by himself facing another man across the tabletop in front of them. The contact had a piece of sheet paper stretched out and was pointing to several things displayed before Ying. The CID agent stood aghast at the information he was hearing and seeing.

"You must be joking." He barely spoke.

"I wish I were, Double Nine-O," the contact said, referring to Ying as his codename. "Dr. Lobster plans on assassinating Chairman Mao and form a coup to overthrow the current government, blaming London for the murder of Mao Zedong. He also wants to gain control over China's money and rob the country of over 2.6 billion American dollars."

"2.6 _billion_?"

"Affirmative. It is important that you get this information to London at once. The lives of over a million innocent people there depend on it."

Ying bit his lower lip, still confused on one thing: Dr. Lobster was an American. Why would an American want any harm on Great Britain and have the millions of people living there be murdered as consequences of committing an assassination that they had no cause in to begin with? The United States were their Allies for as long as he could remember and had fought two World Wars side by side to take out the enemies of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

"I am not yet satisfied with this information yet," Ying said. "Why would an American want a country they're enemies with to blame one of their Allies for the assassination of China's leader?"

"Dr. Lobster is hoping to pinpoint the blame on MI6's 007 and that the Chinese government will send out assassins to London and have him tortured and slaughtered."

The CID agent's eyes grew in size at the hearing of the great British spy's codename.

"007?! Can he even _do_ such a thing?" He gasped.

"Those are his intentions besides gaining control over all of China." The contact answered quietly.

"But why 007? Surely, there are other people out there greater enemies to China then that man."

"I don't know specifics, but several years ago 007 murdered Dr. Lobster's father when discovered he was selling illegal and sometimes fatal drugs overseas to Brazil. 007 was sent out to South America to find Dr. Lobster's father to stop his foreign affairs with illegal drug trafficking and was successful with his assignment. Whatever 007 did to him, the man died within fifteen seconds."

"So, this is his plan in revenge of his father's death."

"Correct, 990."

"And I am to report all of this to the United States CIA and MI6 in London."

"As quickly as you can. The sooner you do, the less damage Dr. Lobster will cause our country and Great Britain's."

"I will be sure to report this tomorrow morning. I'll come into work before everyone else and radio both MI6 and the CIA first thing."

"Good luck, 990."

Ying gave a slight bow.

" _Xièxiè_ ," the agent said, and silently made his way out of the main lounge.

Ying bid the people at the front desk 'goodbye' and made his way out of the hotel into the nightlife of Shanghai. It was calm in the city streets that night. Nothing much was going on besides what people usually did in a big city.

The Chinese agent started making his way to the parking garage to find his car and go home for the evening. Unknown to him, two men all dressed in black with 1940 styled fedoras concealing their faces began to follow silently behind him.

Ying paused once and awhile with his walking, sensing someone was nearby or watching him. He pulled out his pistol and clutched it in his grasp. Hearing no one, he continued with his walk in the parking garage, his gun still in hand's reach. He made his way up several ramps and floors in the building structure, the two mobsters still in tow behind him with stealth.

The CID agent once again took a halt in his walk towards his car, pulled his pistol back out once again, and snapped his head behind him. He scanned the area carefully, making sure no one was following him back to his car.

The two mobsters hid behind one of the cars parked a few lots down the line, completely out of sight.

Ying looked around a little longer, sighed softly, then put his gun back in its holster on his belt. He was beginning to grow on the edge, adrenaline running up and down his spine. He hated having to meet contacts at night. It made him somewhat paranoid once they were over and had to go home alone. He always worried one night someone would find out what he was really doing and track him down back to his house planning to do God knows what to him.

Ying took a few deep breaths in to calm his muscles and tension. Once he felt his body relaxing once again, he turned back to face the front of him and resumed his walk. He had only taken a few steps, when the two mobsters came out from hiding and began to follow their target once again.

After walking up several ramps, the Chinese agent made it to the fifth floor and found his parked vehicle where he had left it. Ying made his way towards his car and began digging in his suit pocket for his keys.

The two men in black silently made their way closer towards Ying.

The young agent was about to put the key in the lock, when one of the mobsters grabbed him by the head and muffled his mouth with a white piece of cloth.

Ying started screaming out in cries for help, but it did no good. The mobster soon bashed him in the back with his fist, sending the man crashing down to the ground. Almost immediately, the second mobster pulled out a knife from his jacket pocket and sent it down with speed at Ying, the other mobster pinning the struggling agent down on the ground. There were only a few cries for help before the young Chinese agent fell silent.

The mobster holding down the now deceased agent looked up at his partner and nodded.

"He's dead," he said, blunt.

"What do we do with him?" The other mobster questioned.

"Take him with us. We'll hide his body out in the suburbs. There's an abandoned shack there I know of. They'll never find him…or won't find him for a while, that is. Help me carry him to the car."

The second mobster nodded, wiped his knife off with a handkerchief, and put both back in his jacket pocket.

Both men picked up Ying's limp body and hurried to their car not too far from where they were currently. Once reaching their vehicle, the first mobster opened the trunk and threw the agent's body inside, then slammed it closed.

The two mobsters got into the car, fastened their seat belts quickly, and drove off silently without another word.


	2. Chapter 2: The Cat Calls

**Chapter 2: The Cat Calls:**

( _London, England; a few days later_ )

It was a busy evening at _Le Cercle_ in downtown London. Both men and women went in and out gambling in several card games being either successful in their wins or otherwise. Lots of men smoked their cigars or cigarettes while having a drink or two during the middle of a game.

A man dressed in a long, black trench coat, a black fedora, and leather Italian shoes walked into the establishment. He had deep, dark brown hair and bright green eyes. With his hands in his jacket pockets, he made his way nonchalantly towards the man at the desk that handled the cash winnings and losings of the customers.

The cashier looked up from his paperwork at the mysterious figure before him and raised his eyebrow in suspicion. He was an older gentlemen wearing a nice suit, tie, and had grayish brown hair with glasses on.

All the man in the trench coat did was slide a card towards the cashier and pointed to someone sitting at a table on the other side of the room.

After turning his head to where the man was pointing, the cashier nodded and was greeted back with the same gesture.

The mysterious man took his leave, and the man at the front desk handed the card to the lobbyist standing nearby. He pointed towards who it was for, and the lobbyist nodded, assuring the man he would get to it as soon as possible. With that, he walked off with the card and went to watch and observe more gamblers.

Meanwhile across the room, there were several men, about seven of them, gathered around a green velvet tabletop with drinks, cigars, poker chips, and cards. All their bets had been made and placed in the center of the table with one another, and the blackjack dealer began passing hands to each player. One of those players was the world renowned, well respected 00 agent, Mr. James Bond. He wore a black bow-tie and a nice suit with black Italian shoes.

With a drink on his left and a lit cigarette in his mouth, James looked at his hand carefully and returned his eyes to his opponents, his face remaining passive. He took the cigarette out of his mouth in between his fingers on his right hand while holding his card hand with the other.

The first man made his move quickly, confident with his choice. The second man shook his head, disgusted with the cards he had been given, and threw his entire hand down on the table having nothing useful. He already knew he had lost. Both the third and fourth man lay a card down with no expression to their faces. The fifth one sat silently for a long while, pondering his next move tediously, then put his card down on the table and nodded. He turned to the sixth man, who was a well known poker player. He was quite good and was a hard competitor to beat.

The sixth man looked at his hand and inhaled a bit of his cigar. He blew a puff of smoke out, put the cigar in between his fingers, and grinned with delight. His dark blue eyes were twinkling with mischief and lay down his hand. He chuckled and turned to look at the last player cocky.

"Try and beat that, Mr. Bond," he said, sure that he had already won.

James gave no reaction for a moment, then gave a sly smile, crossed his legs, and lay his hand down and pushed it in front of him.

"A royal hand," he said, folding his arms onto the table in front of him. "In diamonds."

All six of them threw their hands in, some groaning slightly.

James took his winnings and put them before him, grinning ever so slightly. He put his cigarette back in his mouth and blew a small puff of smoke out.

"I say we raise the betting amounts; make things more interesting," the sixth man said, determined to win his earnings back from the 00 agent.

"I'm all in," the fourth man said.

The first, third, and fifth man nodded in approval. The second man got up from the table and made his way to retrieve his jacket and go home for the night. He had lost enough money tonight to make him feel embarrassed for the next several days.

The blackjack dealer turned his head to James.

"Any objections, Mr. Bond?" He questioned.

"None," James said, calm.

The dealer nodded and began handing out cards for the new game.

While going around the table, the lobbyist made his way over, tapped James on the shoulder, and handed him the card he had been given.

The secret spy took it in his hand, read it over briefly, then placed it inside the upper pocket of his suit. He turned his attention back to the men before him.

"Well, looks like I'll be heading out for the night. Try not to miss me," he said, and rose to his feet. James was about to make his way over to the cashier, when he turned to look back at the sixth player he had crushed the spirits of.

"Better luck next time," he spoke, and made his exit from the game.

The sixth player briefly glared in the direction James had gone in, then turned his attention back to the new game before him. He was determined to win this one and regain his money back.

James collected his winnings, said 'goodnight' to the cashier, and made his way out into the night.

* * *

007 opened the door inside MI6 to Ms. Eve Moneypenny's office, the secretary to his superior, M. He turned to his right to find the woman sitting quietly doing paperwork. She was wearing a white, button up blouse with a long tan skirt, nylons, and brown flats.

She looked up, knowing already who it was, and set her pen down on the desk. Moneypenny crossed her arms on the desktop and made eye contact with the man before her.

"Well, you're certainly dressed up. Going to a wedding?" She teased.

"Now, whose wedding would you be referring to?" James replied, mischief beaming off from his smile.

The secretary smiled and shook her head.

"M's been waiting to see you, James. Sounds important," she said.

"Isn't what M needs to see me for always important?" James asked flirtatiously.

Moneypenny rolled her eyes and pushed down on her comm button.

"007 is here to see you, Sir," she said.

" _Send him in, Ms. Moneypenny_." The voice of M could be heard throughout the tiny office.

With a grin, James leaned over and kissed Moneypenny on the head, making the secretary smile. He nodded and made his way inside to his superior's office.

Closing the door behind him, the spy nodded to M and stood before him.

"Good evening, 007," the old man greeted. "Going somewhere tonight?"

"No, Sir," James answered.

"Have a seat," M said, gesturing towards the chair across from his desk.

Complying to orders, James sat down quietly and placed his arms across his middle and waited patiently for his boss to speak.

"What is it, M?" He asked respectfully.

"007, have you ever heard of the name Dr. Lobster?"

"Never heard of him. Why do you ask?"

"We received word from one of our contacts in Shanghai during the early hours of this morning. Around 3AM, we had reports come in from Security Intelligence located in Beijing that one of their most important agents, 990, was found stabbed to death inside an abandoned shack in the suburbs of Shanghai."

"Stabbed to death," James gasped. "By whom?"

"Men working for Dr. Lobster. His real name is Antony Genovese."

"Genovese…" James's eyes suddenly widened and sat up straighter, slightly leaning towards M. "You don't mean…"

"Son of Salvatore Genovese. One of your greatest enemies."

"The man that nearly killed millions of lives in Brazil along with his attempt to kill me with a scopolamine overdose."

"We believe he is trying to track you down and planning to have you dispatched as revenge for the death of Genovese 15 years ago. There are rumors that he is here in London with a small group of his men already making attempts to find your location."

"I'm afraid he won't get away with it. What are his intentions after his plans of trying to murder me? And what does the death of this Chinese agent have to do with it?"

"That we are still trying to find out. Your assignment is to find Dr. Lobster and have him eliminated before he gets the chance to do so with you."

James began to grow uncomfortable, his face and body showing unease and tension.

"M, he doesn't know of my…"

"We are almost certain that he has no knowledge of you bearing a child."

"Let's keep it that way."

"I want you to start your assignment tomorrow evening after five. Of it being winter time, night comes earlier than it does throughout the rest of the year. You will meet CIA agent, Felix Leiter, at the entrance of Hyde Park."

"You don't want me to start first thing in the morning?"

"I don't want you to be possibly spot out during broad daylight only to have one of Dr. Lobster's men follow you home and have you assassinated."

"You make a valid argument, M."

James got to his feet and began making his way out of M's office.

"Good luck, 007. And be careful," his superior warned, with concern.

"Aren't I always?" James replied, with a wink. With that, the secret agent closed the door behind him and headed for home.


	3. Chapter 3: To Live With A 00 Agent

**Chapter 3: To Live With A 00 Agent:**

At the Bond residence, 16 year old Lulu Bond knelt down between the living room couch and glass coffee table doing her arithmetic homework for school. Despite her father's occupation, she attended a public high school having the false statement of her father working as a governmental diplomat. James wanted his daughter to have as much of a normal childhood as possible, having experience with an abnormal one himself. Both his parents had died in a skiing accident when he had just been 11 years old and spent the rest of his childhood under his aunt's care. He graduated from both high school and college with strong grades and joined the Royal Navy serving as a commander for some period of time before wishing to get involved with criminology and the secret service and applied to work for MI6. He soon became a 00 agent and had been one ever since.

Lulu had light brown hair that went a little past her shoulders and soft blue eyes. She was wearing her school uniform, which was a long light blue skirt that went a bit past her knees slightly, a white shirt with a white button up sweater over it, white socks, and her everyday black flats.

She was an only child and only had her father for a parent. Her mother had been murdered by a serial killer when she was only two, who was never found. Lulu had been sent to live with her father for the remainder of her childhood and had a strong relationship with him. Though at first resilient at the idea of raising a child and being parent, his daughter quickly grew on him and loved her with his entire life. Same went for Lulu. She admired and looked up to her father, him being her role model in life. She wanted to one day be as strong, courageous, and intelligent as he was.

Waiting for her father to come home from hanging out at the casino, Lulu let out a heavy sigh and punched numbers into her calculator to continue her mathematics homework. She hated math. She hated numbers, equations, charts, and graphs. They were frustrating, often confusing, and found over half of what she learned completely useless. She had always been drawn to books, reading, and writing. A reading assignment or writing a paper she could do. Trial and error methods to figure out a missing number in an equation or unknown point on a graph she could not.

Too focused on her current math problem, she did not notice her father enter the living room entryway and looking at her. Smiling, James made his way over to his daughter silently and leaned over her to see what she was working on. Coming home to her always gave him something to feel good about. There was never a day where Lulu did not brighten his spirits.

Completely frustrated at that point, Lulu dropped her pencil down on the table and gave a heaving sigh. She looked over to her left where her calculator lay and gently whacked it off onto the floor, not able to stand looking at it any longer. The young girl propped her head up with her right arm and whimpered at the problem causing her to be stuck.

"Confused about something?" James asked, soft.

The sudden hearing of someone speaking, Lulu jumped and turned to see it was just her father. She let out a breath of relief, then smiled small.

"You scared me," she said.

James chuckled briefly.

"Everything alright, my love?" He asked.

Lulu frowned.

"No. I've been trying to figure out this darn math problem for over an hour now." She moaned.

"Sounds troubling."

"Papa, I hate this. I'm never gonna use any of this stuff."

"I beg to differ," James said, sitting down in a sea form green chair beside the couch. He lay his arms across his midsection and head on the back of the couch. "I use charts and graphs on a daily basis."

"That's different, Papa. I don't wanna be a spy; I wanna be a writer." Lulu had always loved writing stories, creating new characters and plot lines to work on for as long as she could remember. She wanted to write books and novels. _Many_ of them. She knew she was destined to be an author ever since being placed into advanced placement English courses in school, and her father being called in for several meetings in grade school to discuss with her teachers her exceptional writing skills and proficiency. He had read several of her academic papers and short stories and was encouraging her continuously to join her school's newspaper as a writer/reporter, though struggled with her insecurity and shyness. She was social with very little people, her father and few close friends being her only exception, and James was determined to help his daughter develop a stronger sense of belief in herself and to not be afraid to take chances and be who she was.

"It's good knowledge to have. You never know when it might come in handy in your life," James said, trying to unwind his daughter's nerves a bit.

Lulu hung her head sadly, knowing her father was right. He was on most things, if not all.

"I guess," she said softly.

The 00 agent got to his feet, leaned down towards Lulu, and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair gently. It made his daughter give a small smile.

"I'm going to go change and lie down for a little while. Feel free to come get me if you need anything," he said friendly.

"Yes, Papa," Lulu said, smiling.

James returned the same grin and made his way out of the living room and across the hall to his room.

Leaving his daughter to herself again, Lulu grabbed her calculator off the floor and went back to trying to finish her math homework, when there was a knock heard on the door. She looked up from her assignment, curious to who it might be outside. She had not been expecting anyone, and her father would have told her if someone had been coming over ahead of time.

She got to her feet and silently made her way into the hallway. As she made her way closer to the door, she stopped halfway standing next to an oak table that sat alongside a wall in the middle of the hall. On it was a display of fake flowers in a vase, some letters to her father, a picture of James in his Navy uniform, and her father's old pistol that M had given her to use as household protection. Her father was forced into trading it in for a Walther PPK or threatened to return to basic intelligence duties.

Grabbing the pistol in her hand, she continued to make her way silently towards the door. Once arriving to her destination, she lock and loaded the weapon with her finger ready on the trigger, looked through the peep hole in the door, then quickly opened the door with the gun ready at aim. It was no one more than Lulu's best friend from school, Arnie. He was a bit taller than Lulu, had dark brown hair, dark blue eyes, and wore ordinary black glasses. He was wearing his school uniform being a white, long sleeved button up shirt, black pants, and black shoes.

Lulu lowered the weapon and smiled with glee at her friend.

"Arnie!" She cried.

"That would be me," her friend said, the firearm not phasing him. He was the only other person that knew of Lulu's father's true job title besides the Bonds's housekeeper, Lorraine. Arnie had been sworn and threatened to never speak of James or his activity as a spy unless given strict permission by Lulu or Mr. Bond himself. Though being her best friend since first grade, James trusted the boy and liked him very well, too. He treated his daughter kindly and was a very dependable person. He could be trusted with various tasks and important information and had proven that to both Bonds throughout the years.

"Practicing your shooting there?" Arnie asked, gesturing to the gun in his friend's hand.

Lulu gave a bashful smile.

"Just usual protocol is all," she said.

The young female gestured for her friend to enter, who took his shoes off at the doormat courteously, and followed Lulu into the living room.

"So," Arnie began. "Where's your old man at? Knocking the crap out of someone on some classified assignment?"

Lulu giggled softly.

"No, he's in his room resting. Just got back from playing poker in town." She answered.

"He come home with the big money?"

"He didn't say."

"Fair enough." Arnie looked at the papers scattered before his friend at the coffee table and nodded to it. "How's the math homework going?"

Lulu groaned in disgust.

"Awful," she said.

"Damn…I was hoping you'd be able to help me out with a couple problems."

"I was hoping the same thing."

"Looks like we're _both_ in a pickle, then."

"It does indeed look like it."

The boy made his way closer towards Lulu, then sat down beside her on the left.

"You seen problem 57 yet?" He asked, with dread.

The spy's daughter turned to him with a grim expression.

"Honey, you haven't seen _anything_ until you get to problem 65," she said.

Arnie groaned.

"Better get started then, huh?" He questioned.

"I'm praying I'm done by at _least_ midnight." Lulu answered.

Arnie pulled out his homework, flipped open to the page he was last on, and both students resumed their work. It did not last long, when Arnie put down his pencil and turned to face his friend.

"You hear what Peter Walton did today in chemistry class?" He asked.

Lulu gave a heavy sigh, knowing the name all too well. The kid was one of the biggest troublemakers in their entire high school. Although being the school's star soccer player, he was terrible when it came to academics. Always talking, interrupting instruction, and never following directions given for anything.

"What did he do _now_?" She moaned.

While Arnie began telling his story, in James's room, the secret agent lay down in his bed, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and began to drift off in relaxation, when he heard his daughter's voice and the voice of another person he could not quite recognize. His eyes snapped open, shot up in a sitting position, and listened a bit longer to make sure he was not hearing things. His senses being correct, James reached inside his jacket to remove his pistol, silently got to his feet, and made his way out to the living room.

With the swiftness and stealth of a ninja, James crept closer to the living room entrance and stopped when he got to the wall in the hallway. He hid behind it briefly, listening for anything worth his attention. After taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves, the British agent snapped his way into the entryway, his muscles relaxing seeing it was only his daughter's best friend.

Arnie looked up from speaking with Lulu, and jumped at the sudden sight of James like a cat being startled.

"Geez! Your dad's gonna kill me one of these days doing that." He gasped.

Lulu could not help, but giggle.

"That didn't scare the daylights out of you?" Arnie remarked, turning to his friend stunned.

"I live with him," she said simply.

James chuckled softly and put his weapon back in his holster kept around his shoulder underneath his suit.

"Sorry, Arnie. I heard an unfamiliar voice in my room and assumed otherwise," the agent said politely.

"It's alright, Mr. Bond…I guess I should be used to this by now." The boy answered.

James leaned against the side of the entryway and grinned.

"What are you two up to?" He asked, with interest.

"Arithmetic homework." Arnie spoke.

Lulu gave a heaving sigh, as she looked down at the many problems she had left before she could relax for the night.

"Well, I will leave you two to do your work, then. Just came to make sure everything was alright out here," James said, and turned to leave when the voice of his daughter stopped him.

"Papa?" She called.

The spy turned to look at Lulu.

"Can I ask you a question?"

James smiled.

"Of course, you can. What is it, darling?" He asked friendly.

Lulu looked at her father helplessly.

"Help me?" She pleaded softly.

His smile growing a bit wider, James made his way towards his daughter and her friend, knelt down on her right, and put an arm around her, as he began helping the two kids with their troubling homework assignment.


	4. Chapter 4: A Hunt Begins

**Chapter 4: A Hunt Begins:**

Morning came, and Lulu was up bright and early as always. She was all ready to go in her school uniform and made her way into the living room and into the kitchen attached on the left. Pouring herself a glass of milk and setting it at the dining table in between the living room and kitchen, she put two chocolate chip waffles in the toaster and sat down with her milk while waiting for her breakfast to cook. She took gulps of her drink while watching the outside of the patio across from her at the early morning life around her.

It was pitch black out still, and it was pushing 6:20AM. Nothing much was going on outside besides the sight of the city in the far distance. Lulu sometimes wished she lived closer to the city to have something to listen and watch in the morning before hurrying off for school. Although she liked the privacy and serenity surrounding the homey flat, it could grow boring at some points with little action going on. Her father's job as a 00 agent, however, it was probably a good thing that nothing interesting happened often.

Finding nothing intriguing outside, she picked up the morning newspaper she had gotten from the front door and scanned over it for any interesting news stories. She eventually got lost in her search and did not notice her father enter from behind her.

James was wearing his usual suit and tie with his black Italian shoes. He had on black socks and a suit with a blue button up shirt and a dark blue tie to go with it. He leaned over once reaching Lulu and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. It made her look up from reading and smiled.

"You ready for school?" He asked, walking into the kitchen for some coffee.

Lulu sighed sadly.

"No. I wish it were summer break already." She groaned, still flipping through the paper. The only interesting thing she had found so far was a news story about a spy in Shanghai being found in an abandoned shack stabbed and beaten to death.

"Ah, you don't mean that. Enjoy being a kid; these are the best years of your life," James said, pouring himself a cup of hot, black coffee.

Lulu looked up from reading and stared at her father with a blank expression.

"You've been out of school too long, Papa," she said, soft.

James smirked and made his way over back to the table. He sat down in the chair on Lulu's left and ran his fingers through his daughter's soft hair.

"It will be alright, darling. The year will soon be over with, and you'll have a full summer to relax," he said quietly.

"Papa," Lulu began, pointing to the news story she had read earlier. "Did you read this? Says an important Chinese spy was found beaten and stabbed to death in an abandoned shack in the suburbs of Shanghai. Authorities are searching for any clues to lead them to the killer or killers."

"I know, love. M and I were discussing it last night at a meeting I was ordered to attend to."

Lulu's face became dreary, her eyes growing with sadness.

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" She answered, disappointed.

"Not quite. It's said that the man who killed this Chinese agent is here in London somewhere. I'll be leaving this evening to meet with Felix in Hyde Park for my assignment, but I'll be back in the morning."

"Uncle Felix is coming?"

United States CIA agent, Felix Leiter, was not really Lulu's uncle. Biologically speaking, he was not. She had known Felix since coming to live with her father at two years of age. She went on a few missions with them back then if permitted safe enough. Felix had watched Lulu when James had to go on dangerous investigations or meet ups on those few assignments and grew fond of the American, as Felix had grown fond of her and loved the child as if she were his niece. She always liked it when Felix came to visit.

"He's already here and scouting the area for the man before I meet with him later tonight," James said.

"Who is he, Papa? Do you know?" Lulu asked, both curious and fearful.

"A man named Antony Genovese."

"Genovese…that name sounds familiar to me."

"His father, Salvatore Genovese, was a great enemy of mine 15 years ago. I had no knowledge of you yet and was sent to Brazil to stop him from his illegal drug selling and money making. He was responsible for many deaths due to selling lethal, and in some cases, fatal drugs to citizens there. He almost had me killed, too, from an overdose of a very dangerous drug. I was lucky to have your Uncle Felix there to get me to a hospital quickly. I would have died within hours, otherwise."

"What happened to him, Papa?"

"My predicted recovery was about three to four weeks, but I knew there was not enough time to stop Genovese before he caused more fatalities and damage. I snuck out of the hospital during the night about six days after I was admitted and tracked him down once again. We had one last confrontation, and I was lucky in killing him."

"How'd he die?"

"He was climbing up a ladder in the building we were in to try and escape, and I was able to shoot him in the back of his shoulder. He dropped from the ladder into a pool below filled with poisonous chlorine that he originally intended in having me thrown in. By how high the chlorine levels were in the water, he died fairly quickly."

"So, he drowned?"

"Chlorine poisoning and drowned, yes."

"Don't you ever get scared on assignments, Papa? Knowing you might die at any minute, wouldn't that make someone above anxious?"

"You're forgetting I've been doing this job for many years now, dear. I've learned to manage my fear and keep it under control. It's when you let your fear control you that you begin to put yourself in danger."

"You're certainly more brave than I'll ever be."

James kissed Lulu on the side of her head and rubbed her back gently.

"Any child of mine will be no coward," he said, firm.

"I know…it's just hard. I'm soft, not rough. I don't have your thick skin, Papa." The young girl answered, meek.

"You'll get it someday soon, darling. I promise."

Lulu gave a small smile, her father's words giving her strength. He may have been a tough, hard skinned spy, but he was not heartless. He always had the right words to say, had lots of wisdom, and knew how to always build someone's confidence when they were at a loss for any. There was a big, warm heart inside James Bond; you just needed to know where and how to look for it.

"Thanks, Papa," she said, sincere. She wrapped her arms around her father and lay her head against his chest. James smiled and held his daughter close to him. He gave her another kiss on the top of her head and ran his fingers gently in her hair.

"You better get going. Arnie's probably waiting for you outside." The spy spoke soft.

Both kids had their licenses, but the only car in the Bond household was James's. Lulu was saving money to get her own with her part time job of cleaning her neighbor's flat and car. Until then, Arnie had offered to drive her to and from school for the meanwhile, and it beat walking in the snow or heat by a long shot.

"I wanna stay here with you," she said, tired. It took awhile for the young Bond to completely wake up.

"You'll see me tonight," James said, quiet.

He gave Lulu one more kiss on the head, rubbed her back, and walked her to the door.

After putting on her dark blue pea coat, her white scarf, black gloves, and grabbing her black purse, Lulu hugged her father once more, gave him a kiss on the cheek, then waved 'goodbye' and made her way out of the house.

* * *

The day went by quickly, and it was soon dark out. James grabbed his hat after checking his pistol for any malfunctions and turned to face Lulu, who was watching him from the living room entryway.

Seeing the fear on her face, he smiled and walked towards her. James placed a hand on her shoulder, making the young girl look up into her father's face.

"Papa, don't go. I don't want you to get hurt." Lulu whimpered. She never liked it when her father was sent on assignments such as these ones. This one in particular had her on the edge. She was sensing something would go wrong tonight, but was scared even more not knowing why.

"I'll be home when you wake up in the morning," James said softly.

"No, Papa, something's wrong. Something bad's gonna happen tonight, and I don't know what it is." She answered.

"I will be alright, Lulu. Nothing wrong is going to happen."

Lulu swallowed a growing knot in her throat, telling herself to not argue with the man any longer. It always irritated James when his daughter fretted over him. He always knew she meant well, though. He knew he'd be ten times as terrified than her had their roles switched.

"Yes, Papa," she said, meek. She let out a shaky breath, trying to fight her body from shivering in terror from her anxiety.

Lorraine stepped out into the hallway and waited for the 00 agent's instructions for the evening. She was a tall African-American lady about in her mid-late forties. She had graying black hair that she always kept up in a bun and wore an apron over her green and yellow speckled dress. James had known her for many years and was a good friend of his. He always could trust her to take care of the house and Lulu. When not being their housekeeper, Lorraine worked in a restaurant in downtown London and owned her own place in the city.

James turned to look at her after adjusting his tie.

"Be sure to give Lulu her asthma medicine before she goes to bed and make sure she finishes her homework for tomorrow," the spy instructed.

"Yes, Mr. Bond. I have her spare school uniform cleaned and lain out on her bed for tomorrow morning, and dinner is cooking right now," Lorraine said, efficient and thinking ahead as usual.

"What's on the menu for her?"

"Mac and cheese with a glass of milk and a side of asparagus. Cooked, not fried like her father likes it."

James smirked.

Lulu stuck her tongue out and silently gagged, hearing the sound of the vegetable's name. She had never been fond of eating vegetables in general, and asparagus was high up there on the ones she hated most. She could eat anything else, but vegetables were out of the question.

"Do I _have_ to, Lorraine?" She whined.

"Your father said he wanted me to get more vegetables into your diet, dear. And you know we don't approve of whining, either," Lorraine said friendly, yet firm.

Lulu groaned and leaned her head against the entryway to the living room.

James turned his attention from his daughter to his friend and housekeeper.

"Look after her carefully, Lorraine," he said, soft and with a hint of worry.

"She'll be fine, Mr. Bond. I have your car's phone number if anything happens." She answered, reassuring the man.

James nodded.

"Good," he said simply.

Lulu made her way into the hall and hesitated to approach her father. She wanted to hug him for comfort, but was worried it would make him become agitated and feel like his mother was babying him. Of course, she was always a bit anxious when her father had to go out on assignments, but this one had 'danger' written all over. It drove her crazy not knowing why, but all she knew was that something horrid would occur while James was out tonight.

"Papa," is all she said, in a trembling whimper. Her nerves were acting up more and was doing all she could to keep her anxiousness in check. She knew her father could not stand hysterics.

James turned to face her and saw Lulu shaking. He could sense there were stronger emotions within her wanting to escape and was doing her best to keep as calm as possible. He gave a comforting smile and rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

"I will be alright, my love," he said kindly.

"Promise?" Lulu quivered.

"Cross my heart."

She nodded and leaned her head against her father's chest, gently wrapping her arms around him.

James held her close for a moment, kissed the top of her head, then placed his hat on his head and made his way for the door. He turned around once more to look at the two females.

Lorraine had her hands on Lulu's shoulders, who was waving 'bye' softly.

James smiled, waved 'goodbye', then made his exit with the door closing behind him.

Lulu let out a very shaky breath and fought back from crying. Seeing her discomfort, Lorraine gently rubbed her back and held her tight.

"He'll be alright, little one. He always is," she said.

"Then why am I so scared this time?" Lulu answered back, trembling. She closed her eyes and held onto the housekeeper tighter.


	5. Chapter 5: Silent Hour

**Chapter 5: Silent Hour:**

At approximately 6:00PM on the dot, James pulled up to Hyde Park in his car and made his way inside the park. With his pistol grasped in his hand, he silently made his way around and began looking around for his friend. He was about to turn onto another path, when he saw the man he was looking for leaning against a light post smoking a cigarette. He had brown hair wearing a gray suit and tie with black leather shoes.

James sighed, let a smile make its way onto his face, and approached Felix.

The American turned his head to the right and grinned.

"Funny seeing you around here." Felix teased.

"Thought I'd drop in for a bit," James said jokingly.

"What do you know, 007?"

"As much as you know."

"I never imagined Genovese having a son. I can still remember that man like it happened yesterday."

"Rather haunting image, if I say so myself."

"And what's his reasoning for killing that secret agent in China?"

"I wish I could offer you more answers, my friend."

Felix gestured with his head for James to walk with him, as they investigated the park for any suspicious clues or anything to lead them to Dr. Lobster.

"You have any leads on where he might be hiding out?" James questioned, putting his hands inside his pants pockets.

"I found a man who said he saw someone matching Lobster's physical descriptions, but didn't know his direction of travel. He was last seen wandering around in the southern parts of London earlier today. Said he was lost and trying to navigate to the closest bus station and being followed by two men all dressed in black with black fedoras."

"M said he's possibly involved with gang activity."

"He's the head of a small Mafia that he formed back home in New York City about seven years ago."

"And's been plotting my demise ever since."

"We believe so. As soon as M got in contact with me, I flew out here to London immediately to track down this guy and put a stop to him."

"I'm interested in finding out what this Ying Chiang had to do with all of this. Surely, Lobster wouldn't kill him randomly."

"I have contacts in Shanghai trying to find that information for us. Right now, we have no leads."

"Let's just keep looking around here for anything."

Felix nodded, and the two spies continued to walk around the park. They paused in their trek, when they heard footsteps nearby. Both agents grabbed their guns and pointed them in front of their surroundings.

"What was that?" The American whispered.

"It sounded like someone following us," James said, hushed.

"But from where, though?"

"Just keep walking. Keep your eyes out for anything suspicious."

The two men resumed their walking, every once and awhile looking around them for anyone or anything mystifying to them. They stopped, when they heard the footsteps again, only this time were louder.

"Where's that coming from?" Felix hissed quietly.

"Act like you don't hear anything. The more off guard we get, the better chance whoever has to attack," James ordered, soft.

They were about to continue, when Felix caught something out of the corner of his eye and watched in horror.

"James! Look out!" He cried. The American tackled the 00 agent to the ground, both of them watching a bow and arrow with burning wings fly in their direction and crash into a tree.

The two men got to their feet and made their way to the tree on their left. The tree sat next to an abandoned, black metal bench with a light post standing on the right of it. There was a slight fog hovering over them in the night sky, making the park have an eerie feel to it that night. There were no stars or moon in sight. The only thing lighting their way were the light posts standing throughout the park.

James stood beside Felix, who took his finger and wiped it on the metal part of the arrow. It had a strange smell to it and looked like it had been dipped in something just before the back of it being lit on fire.

The CIA agent licked his finger, coughed slightly, and nodded.

"Nightshade," he said, wiping his finger on his trousers.

"Lobster knows I'm here," James said quietly.

"Let's get out of this area. Find a safer part of the park to continue this."

The two men abandoned the tree with a burning arrow stuck in it and started to make their way further into the park, when a black figure in a mobster outfit emerged from the fog and pointed a gun at both of them. They made a run back to the main entrance, when another figure in a mobster outfit came out from the dark and had a gun pointed at them, as well.

Both men stepped back, realizing they had no where to go. They looked back and forth from one man to the other, then spotted something else making there way towards them from the right side of the path.

Three figures slowly made their way into the lighting of the park lights. Two men stood in back side by side wearing the same clothing as the two men that had already appeared and seemed to be standing guard of the third man in the center.

The man in the middle was wearing a suit and tie, was holding a pistol, and had dark eyes and gray hair with just barely any strands of black hair left blending in with it.

Sensing he already knew who he was, James glared at the man before him with a slight snarl.

"Dr. Lobster," he said, cold.

"007…I was hoping I'd never lay eyes on you. And who's that with you?" Lobster ordered.

"No one of importance. Let him go."

The Mafia leader turned to the man on Felix's left.

" _Bianchi, lo lasciò libero_ ," he commanded.

Bianchi lowered his weapon and signaled for the American to beat it.

Following orders, Felix made his way out of the area and stood behind the six men next to the tree. He watched carefully and had his firearm concealed, ready to fire at any given moment.

Lobster looked at Felix a bit longer, then returned his attention to James.

"Drop your gun," he demanded.

James did nothing, but continue to glare at the man and held his weapon ready for aim whenever necessary.

"Drop it, or I have your friend there obliterated with a shot to the head!"

The British agent let his gun fall to the ground and held his arms up, watching Lobster cautiously. All he did was bend over, pick up his Walther PPK, put it in his back pocket, and resumed aiming his weapon at James's chest.

"I've been waiting for this for _years_!" The mob leader hissed, shaking his head. His eyes never left James's sight. He knew of the man's successful escapes from enemies, and he was not about to let him get away with another one.

The 00 agent made no response. He continued to glare at the man before him.

Meanwhile, Felix was grasping his gun hidden underneath his jacket, waiting for the right moment to make his move. He had to be quick and accurate, or it was the end of his friend's life and possibly his, too.

"Bianchi. Cattaneo. Grab him," Lobster said, sharp.

The two men on both sides of James grasped each arm of his body with one of their own. He made an attempt of trying to break free, but Lobster's men were stronger. He could not fight off the strength and stamina of two men. One, yes. Two, no.

Realizing a fight was useless, James turned his attention back to the mob leader and suddenly saw just how identical Lobster looked to his father. The same hair, eyes, the same anger and fire that Salvatore Genovese had. It was as if he were looking at the same man once again. It was one of his rare moments where the British spy was internally disturbed by such a thing. He had seen many disturbing and horrific things since joining the Royal Navy and MI6, but it was almost unlikely for him to be set off by them. For the first time in years, James Bond felt inner terror and managed to mask it from anyone else. He was not a coward, and he did not run from his fears. The biggest lesson he had been trying to teach Lulu since she was a little girl.

"You look just like your father," James said, his facial expression remaining stone cold.

"He'd still be here had it not been for _your_ doing." Lobster remarked.

"And he'd be still killing the lives of many in Brazil!"

"He was doing business overseas like any other businessman would."

"Selling illicit and potentially lethal drugs is not 'like any other businessman'."

Felix gripped his gun tighter, timing his move by the second. He would have time long enough to shoot two, if not all three, of the men with firearms discharged. It would also give James enough time to pick up his gun from the ground and be able to handle the last two standing behind Lobster.

The 00 agent turned to look at each man on his side. He turned to look back at the mob leader, gathered every bit of strength within him, and managed to elbow Bianchi off of his left and onto the ground. Then turning to his right, James managed to sock Cattaneo in the jaw and knocked him out cold.

Bianchi rose from the ground and tried lunging for the spy, when Felix fired his gun from behind the tree guarding him at the man. The gang member let out a cry of agony and fell to the ground silently. There was a gaping wound smack dabbed in the middle of his back, blood oozing out onto his clothes and body.

Lobster fired his pistol, James dodging out of the way before the bullet got a chance to hit him.

"Run, James!" Felix cried. The American fired his gun at Lobster, trying to get the man to drop his weapon, but his aim went clear past both the mob leader and the two men standing guard behind him.

The British agent spotted his gun lying on the park pathway and made a run to try and grab it. It was at that moment Lobster decided to pull his trigger again and shot James in the middle of his chest.

James gasped in pain, wrapped his arm around his upper abdomen, and collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"James!" Felix exclaimed. He kept firing at the Mafia boss, hoping one of his shots would hit him. His response was Lobster and his two men make a run for it and disappeared in the night fog. "Get back here!" The American fired more shots, but they just rang out into the night. Lobster and his men were gone.

Once sure the three men had left the area, Felix put his weapon away and made his way to his friend, who was bleeding profusely. He grabbed the man in his arms and tried to get a response from him.

"James. James. James, can you hear me?" He yelled.

Gasping for air and gaining semi-consciousness, James managed to mutter one word out of his mouth.

"Lulu…Lulu…"

"She's safe, 007. Just hang in there for a little longer, James." Felix pleaded, trying to remain calm.

The 00 agent again gasped, fighting back a scream from pain, and returned to unconsciousness.

The American spotted a payphone about 12 feet from where he currently was. He leaped to his feet and sprinted towards it. Putting a coin into the slot, he quickly dialed the emergency telephone line.

"Hello, this is Felix Leiter in Hyde Park. I need an ambulance right now, my partner's been shot…he has a pulse, but weakening. He's breathing, but it's labored and rapid. And get into contact with my partner's housekeeper…name…Bond, James Bond."


	6. Chapter 6: Trying To Say 'Goodbye'

**Chapter 6: Trying To Say 'Goodbye':**

Lulu and Arnie sat directly across from one another at the dining table, both engrossed in the middle of a good baccarat game. James had taught both of them how to play at the age of fourteen and always gambled for candy instead of money.

Lorraine stood in the kitchen cleaning the dishes, as she kept watch on the two teenagers. She trusted them as much as James himself did, but had strict orders to make sure nothing bad happened to the 00 agent's daughter while he was out of the house. Her safety came first, and he did not take carelessness towards that concern lightly. If something ever happened to Lulu, James would do more than just kill that person. What that more was, the housekeeper refused to find out.

The agent's daughter looked up at her best friend, wondering why he was taking so long to draw the next card.

"Aren't you gonna go?" Lulu asked, a bit confused.

"I'm thinking," Arnie said, rubbing his chin with his fingers.

"You can't really think in this game. It's all luck."

The boy sighed, grabbed a card, and threw it on the table. He was currently playing as the banker in the game.

Lulu grabbed a card from the deck, looked at it, and gave Arnie a sympathetic smile.

"Sorry, bud. Queen of hearts," she said, putting it down on the table.

Arnie glared at her playfully and pushed three chocolate bars her way.

"What do you say?" He asked. "You wanna raise the bets?"

Lulu looked at him, a smile full of mischief growing on her face. She resembled her father's cunning and clever mind that way.

"Any objections?" She asked, sly.

Arnie scoffed.

"Please! Objections are for chickens," he said.

Lulu grinned, and both placed more candy into the middle of the table.

Lorraine smirked while watching the two children, when a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Puzzled, she wiped her hands on her apron and made her way to the front door. Grabbing the gun that lay on the table out in the hall, she silently made her way towards the front and quickly opened the door, snapping the weapon up and ready to fire at unwanted company. She lowered the gun, when she saw it was a local police officer.

"Good evening, Officer," Lorraine said, placing the gun back on the table. "Can I help you with anything, Sir?"

"I am Officer Wilson of Downtown City Police Department. Is this the Bond residence?" He asked, his face remaining passive.

"Depends. What is it you need?"

"I need to speak with Mr. Bond's housekeeper."

"That would be me."

"What's going on, Lorraine," Lulu's voice could be heard asking in the background. Arnie was standing with her side by side and turned their attention to the man standing at the main entrance. The young girl gulped. "And…who is he?" She trembled.

"I'm afraid Mr. Bond has been in an accident earlier tonight," the police officer said, ignoring the question.

"Accident! What kind of accident?" Lorraine gasped.

"There was a shooting in the middle of Hyde Park. A call came in from a Felix Leiter reporting the incident. I was last informed that an ambulance was in route to a nearby hospital."

"Lorraine!" Lulu cried. Her body was quavering with fear.

"Come on, kids. Get to the car. The sooner we get there, the better," the older lady said, grabbing their jackets.

Lulu turned to her friend, water welling in her eyes.

"Arnie!" She pleaded, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

"He's gonna be alright. We have to hurry, though," he said, pulling on his coat.

Lulu nodded, still shaking, and put on her coat, scarf, and gloves quickly as possible.

All three of them ran out of the flat, following the police officer from behind, and made it rapidly to Lorraine's car. Once all were buckled in, she turned the key in the ignition and drove the two kids to the hospital driving closely behind Officer Wilson's police car.

* * *

Lulu, Arnie, and Lorraine ran down the halls in the hospital to the operating waiting room, finding Felix pacing back and forth across the room.

"Uncle Felix!" The young girl exclaimed, running to the man. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her face against his chest.

"What happened, Mr. Leiter?" Lorraine asked, begging to know what had gone wrong. James rarely, if ever, had something go wrong on an assignment given to him. He knew how to play it safe and how to handle the people he was working with. How did that all change that night?

"Genovese showed up at the park with four of his henchmen. They had both James and I surrounded. Somehow, he was able to convince Genovese to let me go free, and I took cover behind a nearby tree. I started firing my gun, when I found the right moment to catch 'em off guard." The American explained, still somewhat stunned over the chain of events.

"I thought Papa said he was dead." Lulu quivered.

"That was his father, Salvatore Genovese, dear. His son is worse than he was," Felix said, rubbing her back gently.

That made the young girl gulp, her bones starting to rattle. She remembered what James had told her about Genovese earlier that day and about how he had been responsible for over a thousand lives dying and becoming severely ill from illegal and lethal drug trafficking in Brazil. How the man had tried to kill her father with a drug overdose and tried to throw him into a pool filled with poisonous chlorine. If his son was worse than that, Lulu was not sure if she even _wanted_ to know what this man's plans were.

"I don't understand how Mr. Bond got shot, though. Did you accidentally hit him in the ambush?" Arnie asked, trying to put everything together in his mind.

"No, I yelled for James to grab his gun and run. He was about to bend down and retrieve it, when Genovese fired his weapon and got him right in the middle of the chest. The doctors think it may have hit his heart by how much he was bleeding." Felix answered.

Lulu whimpered, her face turning pale.

"He's gonna be alright, Little Lu. His doctor is doing everything he can for him."

'Little Lu' had been the CIA agent's nickname for her ever since she was little.

Lulu's mouth quivered and fought back from crying. She gripped onto Felix tighter, hoping it would help make her father get through this and survive his injuries.

"Where _is_ Mr. Bond?" Lorraine asked.

"Still in surgery. He's been in there for a little over four hours, now," the American said.

Arnie closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for his best friend's father. Lulu and James were very closely knit together. They had a strong relationship as father and daughter and did almost everything with one another: play card games, golf, read, dance, sing, and that was just a few things he could list. The man was someone Lulu went to for everything ranging from telling him about her day at school to asking him advice on something in her personal life bugging her. Sometimes, even _he_ went to James for advice on certain things. He was a good man and a very intelligent one, too. He would be a tremendous loss, if he could not pull through his operation.

Without their notice, an older man, Dr. Gary Harvey, entered the room wearing a scrubs uniform, a surgical mask hanging around his neck, and had blood stained on the front of his shirt. He had graying brown hair, wore glasses, and had soft green eyes that were a bit darker than the color of the mineral, olivine.

Both Felix and Lulu looked up, saw James's doctor, and hurried to him.

"How is he, Dr. Harvey?" The American asked, placing his hands on Lulu's trembling shoulders.

The man was silent, trying to find the words he wanted to say carefully. His expression looked grim.

"Mr. Bond made it through surgery successfully, but his heart was badly damaged by the bullet that hit him," Harvey said softly.

"What's that mean?" Lulu sniffled, wiping her wet eyes.

The doctor again fell silent, not sure he could continue.

"Are you his daughter?" He asked, hoping the young girl was otherwise.

Lulu nodded gently.

"Mr. Bond's my father," she said, quiet. That overwhelming feeling of anxiety she had felt earlier when her father left for the night was returning, and it was worse this time.

Harvey looked up at Felix, not wanting to say what he had to next.

"I'm afraid Mr. Bond's medical condition is deteriorating…his heart's failing. In a few hours, it'll give out…there was just too much damage done to it that were beyond repair," he said.

Lulu shook her head, praying her ears were misinforming her.

"No…no…no, no, no, no, Papa, no!" She begged, starting to break down.

Lorraine shuddered, buried her face into Arnie's shoulder, and began to cry. All the teenage boy could do was shake his head, hoping this was all just a nightmare.

"Where is he?" Felix croaked, fighting back his own emotions.

"We've put him in a temporary room to rest. I wanted him to be in as much peace as possible before…" Harvey stopped. He could not bare causing James's daughter anymore pain than she was already in. Breaking the news of a loved one dying was one thing; breaking that news to a child was a completely different ball game.

"I wanna see him." Lulu whimpered.

Harvey nodded and escorted the young girl through the doors and into a small wing. It was quiet, and the only sound that could be heard was the ones of hospital machines and equipment working. None of the nurses or doctors said a word to one another, and all the doors to rooms were closed. It was a somewhat unsettling environment to Lulu. She wondered if this is where they placed all dying patients to relax and grow at ease before their time came…then her heart shattered again. She did not want to be going through this. She did not want to be in this part of the hospital. She wanted her father to be on a floor where minor socializing was going on. She wanted to go into his room, give him flowers and a 'get well' card, and prepare the house for his homecoming. Sadly, she knew that was not the case. Lulu knew exactly what was in store for her father and could only hope that she was having a bad dream and would soon wake up from it.

Harvey stopped at a door on the left side of a long hallway that went down several more feet, giving it the appearance that it never ended. The walls were a creamy color, and the floor was tile marble. It felt too medical to her more than a comforting environment. It may have been a quiet and peaceful environment for those who were dying, but what about those that came to see them in their last living moments? Did they get nothing other than bad news and a hard 'goodbye'? Her emotional pain grew at that last thought. She did not want to say 'goodbye'. She hated the word 'goodbye'. She had never been fond of them, even if they were just for a short time. 'Goodbye' was a word you said when it was all over and something you said when you saw someone for the last time. She tilted her head slightly, clenched her eyes shut, and used every ounce of strength in her body to not start crying in front of her father's physician.

The old doctor turned to her and saw the pain in her face. He could almost feel her pain, too. All he could do was gently rub her back.

"He'll be alright, Miss Lulu. He won't be in any pain, he'll just go to sleep," Harvey said, soft.

Lulu could not fight all of it anymore. She started to softly weep and nodded.

Harvey opened the door to her father's room for her and watched the young girl make her way inside. He closed the door behind her, giving her and James privacy for their final moments together.

Lulu made her way silently to the bed in the room and sat down in a chair on her father's right. She sat in front of a nightstand with only a lamp lighting the small area with a faint yellow glow.

James was wearing a blue night robe and a white hospital gown with tiny, navy blue diamonds on it. He had a hospital bracelet on his left hand by his watch and an IV in his right hand, which was resting on his middle. He was covered up with snow white sheets and a light blue blanket for a comforter. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was faint.

Hesitating to speak and disturb her father's peace, she swallowed the lump in her throat and allowed the tears to roll down her cheeks.

"Papa," she said, faint.

James's eyes fluttered open slowly and barely turned his head towards the face of his daughter. He smiled, happy to have her be the last person he would see.

"Hi, darling," he said, raspy.

Not being able to stay strong any longer, Lulu broke down and began to cry. The feeling of her father's thumb wiping away her tears made her open her eyes again and saw him smiling at her.

"Don't cry now, sweetheart. I'm going to be alright." He spoke, giving her a faint smile.

"Papa, don't die, Papa…please, Papa…I don't want you to die. I need you, Papa. I need your hugs, your smile, your advice, your courage." Lulu cried.

"I'm always with you, darling. Just close your eyes and think about me, and I'll be right there with you. And my courage is right there inside you."

Lulu shuddered, leaned her head on her father's chest, and wrapped her arms around him, feeling grief already hitting her. She wanted one more hug from her father. She wanted to remember his warmth, the smell of his cologne, his voice, and face as clearly as she remembered her name. Feeling James wrap his arms around her and run his fingers gently through her hair made her cry harder.

"Papa…don't leave me, Papa. I'll miss you too much." She cried.

James hushed her softly.

"I'll always be with you, darling. I'll never be gone too far away."

She lifted her head and looked at him with her wet, red eyes.

"I love you, Papa…more than anybody I'll ever know." She whimpered.

"I love you, Lulu…I always will…" With that, James closed his eyes, sighed in peace, and went to sleep.

Lulu fell silent, stared at her father, and feared the worst.

"Papa?" She asked, soft.

She got no answer.

"Papa?" She again asked.

James was silent.

"Papa…Papa, wake up. _Please_ , Papa, open your eyes!" She pleaded, gently shaking his arm.

Nothing.

"Papa…" Lulu held her father tight, buried her face into his chest, and started bawling. "Papa, come back to me… _please_ , Papa! Come back to me!"

She continued to weep, when she felt a gentle hand grab her shoulder. Lulu looked up and saw Felix standing behind her, his eyes wet with his own tears.

"He's safe now, sweetheart," he said, fighting back his grief.

"I need him, Uncle Felix. I need my Papa, bring him back to me!" Lulu cried.

"I would without a second doubt if I could, Lu…he's in a good place, now. No one's ever going to hurt him again."

There was no consoling her. Lulu continued to cry, losing the only thing of courage and protection she ever had in life. She was now all alone. She had no body. No family. It was just her.

Felix helped the little girl to her feet, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and walked her out of the room. She stopped, when she saw a nurse walk in with Dr. Harvey. Harvey gave the nurse a sad nod to proceed, and James was soon covered with a white bed sheet.

Lulu tried running back to him, but Felix was stronger than she was. She started crying harder, sounding as if she were in actual physical pain.

"Papa!" She screamed. By that point, Lulu was in hysterics.

The CIA agent grabbed her close to him, held onto her, and began to cry himself.

Harvey made his way over to the two and gently helped them out of the room, as more doctors came in to prepare moving James's body down to the morgue. When they were finally out in the hall, the old doctor helped them sit down on a bench near the waiting room to let them grieve. He shook his head, feeling he had failed these poor people, knowing he had made a little girl lose her best friend.

"I'm so sorry," was all he could find appropriate to say. He sulked off to alert Arnie and Lorraine of the news, leaving both Lulu and Felix in their thoughts and with their emotions of loss and mourning.

Neither one of them needed to say anything. Felix held onto Lulu tight, rubbed her back gently, and leaned forward to give her a kiss on the top of her head as she cried. She hugged Felix in return and held onto him, as he did the same thing. They were at a loss of what to do next. They did not know how to go on with their lives. They wondered what the world would come to now without James Bond…a world without British agent 007.


	7. Chapter 7: When M Made A 008

**Chapter 7: When M Made A 008:**

It was not until M ordered her to attend a meeting in his office did Lulu come out in public. For four days straight after the night her father passed away, she did nothing but sit in the house and blankly stare at walls, ceilings, or sat out on her patio and lost herself with the birds, trees, and environment around her. Most of her time was spent in her room avoiding others and either laying in bed or playing solitaire. Sometimes she would get up and move about in her room, but she would always come back to her bed and return to the same unresponsive state, making her mind go completely barren of any feelings or thoughts.

Lorraine had begun to grow concerned for Lulu's well being. She would not speak, and she would not eat. The housekeeper had Arnie constantly coming over to see if he could get to his best friend, but all he was able to do was get Lulu to come out of her blank state only to start crying and begging for her father. He never said anything to her when that happened; he just held her in his arms and let her cry and grieve. She would eventually stop and went back to her numb, expressionless state of mind. Since she was still showing emotions when coming out of her vacant state, Arnie was less concerned than Lorraine was. He knew as long as Lulu was showing emotions in some way that she was grieving like anyone else would, though he kept a careful eye on her for any changes in that fact.

When M had ordered Lulu in for a meeting at MI6, he had Felix come over to the Bond residence and escorted her there by car. The CIA agent stood beside the young girl, who sat silently in the chair across from M's desk. Q stood on the left side of Lulu, watching her every once and awhile for some sort of movement. The only thing he got were her eyes flickering around the room, moving her feet silently, or twiddling with her fingers. Miss Moneypenny stood on the right behind Felix wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. Losing James had not been easy on any of them.

The old man sitting at the big, wooden desk looked at Lulu with compassion in his eyes, knowing she had to be in the worst pain imaginable at that moment in time. He wanted to help her and hoped what he had to say would guide her to come to terms with her father's death and be able to go on like he would have wanted her to. He loved the little girl. He had known her ever since the day she had been sent to go live with her father. All of his biological children had moved away and lived far distances from London, so he looked at Lulu as if she were his own grandchild.

"How are you feeling, Miss Lulu?" He asked gently.

The young Bond did not answer. She just stared sadly down at the floor and slightly moved in her spot.

"Looks like just as well as any of us are feeling at this time." He continued.

He finally got her to look up at him and saw just how much hurt she was in. It nearly killed him seeing how much losing James had done to her. The once smiling, bubbly little teenager was now despondent and quiet. There was nothing but grief and emptiness inside her.

Not able to speak without feeling her loss, she kept silent and lowered her eyes again.

Q frowned and gently rubbed her back. Her father had irritated him with his immaturity once and awhile in the time frame he had known him, but he liked Lulu and knew just how close she had been with 007. Losing his own father at a young age, he could relate to her on some level and knew just how hard of a time she was going through.

"Your father was a good man, little one. He will be missed greatly," he said, soft.

Feeling tears rolling down her face, Lulu took the sleeve of her white shirt she wore underneath a red dress and wiped her eyes. She would not cry in front of the people her father had worked with, especially M. James would have looked down greatly on that and had promised herself she would make her father proud of her as if he had been there still to see it himself.

Her response to Q was turning her head towards him and nodded softly. The man continued to gently rub her back, trying to ease her grief as much as possible. She turned to look at M and acted as professional as she could, hoping her father was her guardian angel and watching over her from Heaven, where he now lived.

"Why am I here, Sir?" Lulu asked, speaking for the first time in four days.

"Well, for starters, I wanted to check in on you." The old man answered, lacing his fingers together on top of his desk.

"Empty…I feel empty." Lulu responded sadly.

"I know, dear. It will get better over time, I promise you that. You're dealing with the hardest part, right now."

He got no answer other than a sniffle.

"My other reason I have you here is because I have a task to ask of you," M said, easing his way into the next topic at hand.

Lulu's ears perked up, and she lifted her eyes back to M's. She looked at him, slightly perplexed as to what the old man had running through his mind.

"What do you mean?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"My dear, have you ever heard the name of Dr. Lobster?" Her father's boss questioned.

Lulu shook her head gently, the name not sounding familiar to her.

"No, Sir…who is he?" She asked, soft.

M turned his eyes towards Felix, who was looking down at the girl. His face held empathy, finding the words he wanted to say considerately.

"Lulu," the CIA agent began. "He's the man that killed your father."

The young Bond's mouth dropped slightly, then turned her eyes back to M.

"You mean…Genovese?" She gasped.

"We believe he murdered your father in anger that was caused when 007 killed his father, Salvatore, 15 years ago." The old man clarified.

Lulu swallowed a lump growing in her throat, unsure of where M was going with all of this. She did not like the feeling she was getting, though.

"What about him?" She croaked, beginning to feel a blanket of fear wrap around her body.

"It is believed he is committing criminal activity in far eastern China. I'm sure you are aware of the recent killing of CID agent, Ying Chiang. Codename 990." M continued.

"Yes, Sir…by what does it have to do with me being here?"

The old man fell quiet for a brief moment before saying what he had to next: the whole reason he had called Lulu in for this meeting to begin with.

"I want you to fly out to Shanghai and put an end to whatever it is Lobster has planned in mind."

"What?!" Lulu exclaimed, shooting up from her chair. "Have you lost your mind?!" She could have cared less about proper decorum by that point.

"I know it's a lot to take in right now…"

"A lot to take in right now! My father just died, and you want me to take over his assignment like he meant nothing to you!"

"A vengeance, my dear, a _vengeance_. A way to give your father justice for the way he died. You'd be saving over a million lives in eastern China from possible, untimely death!"

"I don't _want_ to save millions of lives! I want my Papa!"

Lulu began sobbing and yearning for her father to come back to them. The grief and pain she was trying so hard to lock away and ignore had again released itself and wracked her body in sadness, fear, and anger. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare. She wanted to hear her father's calm, soothing voice again. To see his smile that lit up a room like a chandelier. To be able to talk to him again. To hug him and bury her face in his soft chest, knowing he was there to fix things and make everything alright again. What she would not have given to see him just one last time.

Moneypenny walked over and wrapped her arms around Lulu, feeling her own hot tears stream down her face. The secretary ran her fingers gently through the young girl's soft, light brown hair, hushing her quietly as she released every ounce of emotion out of her body.

"Your father will always be with us, my little one." Moneypenny choked, rubbing Lulu's back gently. Her only response was the sound of the little girl's crying.

Seeing his best friend's daughter suffering so much, Felix could feel tears of his own fall down his cheeks.

M and Q watched 007's daughter grieve, both of them wanting to say or do something to make her feel better. Sadly, all they could do was remain silent and quietly wait for Lulu to calm down and do her appropriate grieving.

A few more minutes went by before Lulu felt her body begin to ease of tension, and her heart growing numb temporarily. She wiped her eyes with a kleenex M offered her, made her way from Moneypenny to Felix, and let the American gently rest his hands on her shoulders, hoping to give her some sort of comfort. Lulu wiped her eyes again and sniffled, then turned her attention back to M.

"I'm sorry, Sir." She quivered.

"No apologies are necessary, little one. There is nothing wrong with loving and missing your father. Like Major Boothroyd said, he was a very good man. He served his country and the lives of many well. His name will live on in good grace and great admiration forever," the old man said kindly.

Lulu nodded, wiped her eyes again with her sleeves, and looked back again up at M.

"I don't wanna be a 00 agent, though. I never have and never will." She whimpered.

"It's a scary occupation to fulfill, I know, but you will not be alone, 008. I'm sending Mr. Leiter with you to help with your assignment."

"008…I'm not 008. Someone already has that name; why can't _he_ do this assignment?"

"He died in a car crash about over a week ago."

"What about 009?"

"009 got hit by the ambulance."

Lulu sniffled, feeling sorry for both 00 agents.

"Well, that's unfortunate," she said, meek.

Felix rubbed her shoulders gently, letting her know everything would be alright.

"I want you to do this, my dear. Your father would have wanted the same thing for you," M said.

Lulu shook her head, her eyes filled with horror. Being a spy? _Her_? She could not. She did not have the kind of stamina and bravery needed to be a 00 agent. You needed to be calm and collected to be one. To be a quick thinker and not let your fear run you. Like James had told her: it was when you let your fear control you did you begin to put yourself in danger.

"I _can't_ , M. I'm not Papa, I can't do it." She spoke, shaky.

"You are James Bond's daughter; you can do anything you set your mind to." The man answered, firm.

"But I don't know _how_! I know the self defense and ninjutsu Papa taught me, but that's all."

"That's all you need to know. The rest will come to you in its own good time."

Lulu turned her eyes to Q. She swallowed a knot in her throat.

The old man nodded to her.

"Make him proud, 008," he said.

Lulu turned back to face M. He had the same look of encouragement and support that Q had in his. She then turned to look at Moneypenny, who nodded to her. She, too was supporting and sending her as much courage and strength to her as possible. Lastly, she turned to Felix and saw the same thing in his eyes. All four adults were standing by her side through it all and believed in her. That she, Lulu Bond, could be as great of a 00 agent as the other ones before her.

She lowered her eyes back to M, then in her mind, she saw her father. He was wearing his dinner suit he wore out to play baccarat at the casino, his brown hair groomed nicely, and his chocolate brown eyes sparkling. He was giving a warm, friendly smile to her, his pearly white teeth lighting up his face. She could see the kindness in his smile, the encouragement his eyes held within them, the strength and bravery he had been known for in his face. She could feel his warmth wrapping around her, her papa letting her know that she could do it, that she would be okay, and that he was safe and content.

Lulu opened her eyes, let a tear roll down her face, then nodded.

"Okay," she croaked. "For Papa."

M smiled boldly at her.

"You're a very brave girl, 008. You've already made your father proud," he said.

Lulu gave a very faint smile.

"I have you and Mr. Leiter booked for a tomorrow night flight to Shanghai. Your plane leaves at 7:30." M continued.

"Yes, Sir," Lulu said, in response.

"We'll be there, M," Felix said, wrapping an arm around the young girl.

"Good luck, Mr. Leiter. To you as well, 008." M answered, with a nod.

The CIA agent and Lulu made their way to the door to leave, when they were stopped by the old man's voice again speaking.

"008," he said.

Lulu turned to face her new boss, who gave her a gentle smile.

"It's going to be alright, my dear." He spoke.

The young Bond gave a sad smile, then nodded.

"See you later, M," she said, soft, then left MI6 with Felix by her side as she began to prepare herself for an adventure filled with mystery, suspense, and unknown danger.


	8. Chapter 8: A Bond With China

**Chapter 8: A Bond With China:**

The next day, Lulu stayed home from school to pack her things for Shanghai and make sure the house was in order for Lorraine to watch over while she was away. She had her suitcase all packed and ready at the front door for when Felix came to pick her up and had the house all cleaned and vacuumed from top to bottom. Finished early, she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV to watch something, when she heard a knock at the door.

Lulu slowly got up from her spot, silently made her way into the hallway, and grabbed the gun that rested on the table. With as much stealth as a ninja, she made her way to the front door without a sound, waited a few moments to get her aim ready, then yanked the door open. She was relieved to see it was just Arnie.

She sighed, placed the gun back on the table, and gestured for her friend to enter. Once inside, Lulu shut the door behind her best friend, turned to face him, and crossed her arms. She had on a white dress with tiny, puffy white dots sewn on it with a light blue cardigan over it, white socks, and her black flats. She had a white headband with a small, white flower on the left side.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Lulu asked, concern in her voice.

"I didn't go. I wanted to know how you were doing." Her friend answered sincerely. He was wearing a dark gray trench coat, black pants, and shoes to match. What his shirt looked like, Lulu could not decipher.

"I'm an orphan; how do you think I feel?" The young Bond answered, with depression.

"How are you holding out, kiddo?"

Lulu gave a sad sigh.

"I'm hanging," she said.

"I'm sorry, Lu…I wish I could do something… _anything_ ," Arnie said, feeling useless. His best friend was hurting, and there was not a thing he could do to make her feel better.

Lulu gave a sad smile, walked towards Arnie, and hugged him.

"You being here's all I need." She answered.

The somewhat nerdy boy gave a soft smile and held his best friend tight in his arms.

"Thanks for being here. I know your parents are gonna be livid, when they find out you skipped school," Lulu said, a few tears streaming down her face.

"Well, they're gonna _kill_ me, when they find out what else I'm doing." Arnie answered, setting down a suitcase beside him.

Lulu stared at it for a moment, then looked up at her friend confused.

"What's that for?" She asked.

"I'm going with you and Mr. Leiter to Shanghai," Arnie said, his decision already been made.

"Arnie, I…"

"I'm going with you guys, Lu. This Dr. Lobster bastard hurt my best friend, and I'm not sitting here and doing nothing about it. I looked up to your dad, too, Lulu. He taught me quite a few things. He even helped me ask out Darcy Fuller in the 10th grade last year…I mean, it didn't end well, but…"

Lulu could not help herself but smirk.

"Arnie Lawson, your parents are gonna lick you harder than a teacher with a paddle," she said, shaking her head.

"And on top of that, do you how awesome of a research paper I could do on Shanghai?! The city life, the culture, the music, the food…"

"You just made my assignment sound as boring as schoolwork."

Arnie hung his head, giving a bashful smile.

"My inner nerd coming out again?" He asked, slightly embarrassed.

Lulu pursed her lips and thought about it briefly.

"Just a little bit," she teased, holding her thumb and pointer finger just barely two centimeters away from one another.

Both of them gave a grin, then the young Bond frowned again, her eyes growing dark with emptiness.

"I wish I wasn't going on this assignment." She murmured.

"I know," Arnie said, soft.

She sniffled, her eyes beginning to water.

"I'm not a spy, Arnie. That's where Papa shined, not me. I sit here in this house locked in my room writing short stories and character profiles. I cry just by someone saying they're upset with me, and the only rule I've ever broken was when I stole that damn pen off of Mr. Schwarzy's desk in 7th grade."

"Maybe God had this intended for you," her friend suggested.

"What do you mean by that?" Lulu asked.

"Well, maybe you _were_ meant to be a spy, and this is a sign of it. Going to Shanghai, tracking down Lobster, assassinating him, maybe this is His way of showing it."

"I don't wanna be a spy, Arnie. Everyone keeps saying to do this for myself and that it'll help my confidence grow stronger, and I _don't_ feel that way. I feel like I'm taking Papa's place."

"Then don't do this for yourself; do it for Mr. Bond. Finish Lobster off like your father would've wanted to himself."

Lulu could feel tears burning down her face, taking her best friend's words to heart. She turned her head to the table on her right and saw the picture of her father in his Navy uniform. His eyes so keen and serious, not a thing of fear could be seen on his face. He looked like some important figure of authority and not afraid of anything or anyone. At the same time, though, he looked calm and at ease. Serious was one thing, but he did not look mean. That was one of the things she had loved about him the most; that he had not been mean to be strong and tough. Sure, he had to be mean at some points with the position he carried throughout his life; he would not have gotten certain assignments done otherwise. But he had not been a mean person. Lulu had known him for his kindness, being loyal, there to have your back when you had earned his trust, for his compassion to protect those he loved no matter what the sacrifices were. And that one sacrifice he had made to save Felix and herself the night he had died was his life. She wanted her father's bravery, his strength, his stamina, his willpower to keep going when things got hard.

 _I'm right here with you_ , she heard her father's voice say in her head. The empty spot inside her intensified and more tears ran down her face.

"I know, Papa." She wept, only audible for her to hear. She closed her eyes and sobbed silently a bit longer, then found every ounce of strength in her body and knew what she was fighting for. _Who_ she was fighting for. She would take down Lobster and his mob members and get justice for her father, whom she had loved with her entire life. For Mr. Ying Chiang, who had died without any known cause or reason for doing his job. For the many lives that had died under the hand of Lobster's father and the scam he had been running in Brazil 15 years ago. And lastly, she would fight for Felix and Arnie; the two people in her life that she loved the most. She had lost her father, and she refused to lose another life she cared for. She would protect them at all costs like James had done for her.

Lulu took in a deep breath of air to calm her nerves. She remembered all the people who were backing her and that were on her team, and she remembered her father, James Bond. A man that had been full of clever wit, great intelligence, someone with good morals, and the strength the weight of ten men. She looked up at the ceiling, shuddered with grief, and nodded with a sniffle.

"I'm doing this for _you_ , Papa." Lulu croaked.

She wiped away her tears, turned to look at Arnie, and took in a deep, shaky breath of air. Once she felt her body at rest, she gave a soft nod.

"Let's go catch ourselves some lobster for dinner."

* * *

Lulu, Arnie, and Felix landed at Pudong International Airport around 2AM and arrived to their hotel by cab around 3:30.

The city of Shanghai was full of life and color. There were so many lights, stores, and crowds of people all around them. It was busier and probably bigger in size than London was. The skyscrapers reached almost into the night sky and lit up the entire city with their logos stamped on the front of their structure. There was a wide variety of blues, yellows, purples, oranges, and so many more colors that brought the city of Shanghai to life. It made the city look majestic and beautiful.

James had once told Lulu the times he had been to New York City in the United States and remembered what he had said regarding what it looked like. What it sounded like, what it felt like. She was getting the same feelings about Shanghai. If that was what being in New York felt like to her father, the city must have been breathtaking to him.

The hotel the three had been checked into was a tall tower with spotlights beaming up the sides of the building and had at least 23 floors. To Lulu, the hotel looked like it kept going up higher and higher forever. She could not even see the top of the building with her small size. There were several lights on in rooms and gave the building a busy feeling to it. And that was just the outside of the building. The inside was far past extravagant. The lobby floor had red carpeting, the check in desks made out of furnished oak, and the sitting area had the most fanciest sofas and chairs the young girl had ever seen. Far more expensive from the ones in her living room back home. They were red and black velvet made with pillows on each side with a unique design on them. She could not tell whether it were just lines or some form of Chinese calligraphy. Above her on the ceiling hung bold lights and chandeliers that looked more expensive than her father's Aston Martin did.

The group of three received their hotel key and headed up to the 15th floor in a grand elevator. When they got to their hotel room, Felix opened the door and let the two kids inside first.

Lulu turned on the light, and both hers and Arnie's jaws dropped. They were stunned with the sight before them.

The hotel had two rooms to sleep in, the main room being huge in size. There was a spacious bathroom on the right, the toilet, bathtub, and sink being made out of porcelain white.

The beds were queen sized, covered in fluffy, white sheets and comforters, and a nightstand sat in between the two in the main room. There was a closet across from the bathroom and a wooden oak desk that sat in the corner with a lamp and a spinning chair made out of maroon velvet. Underneath all of the furniture was an elegant red carpet with a design of Chinese dragons flying around.

"Whoa…" Lulu gasped, absolutely breath taken by the sight.

"The Chinese sure love their red," Arnie said.

"Don't forget _feng shui_ ," Felix said, putting his suitcase down beside the bathroom entryway.

"Fung who?" Arnie remarked.

" _Feng shui_. It's an ancient Chinese custom. It's to bring the room in complete harmony and bring peace to the people in its environment." The CIA agent clarified.

"Sounds like some voodoo worship type thing."

Lulu's eyes felt heavy and fought to stay awake. She wanted to go out and tour the city and see the nightlife, but her body felt like it was about to collapse. Her mourning for her father had been energy draining, as well. She yawned and held onto the table with a phone and phone book sitting on top of it.

"Think someone's ready for bed," Felix said, smiling at Lulu.

"I wanna see the city, Uncle Felix. I can't go to bed now," the young girl said, another yawn hitting her through mid sentence.

The American swept her into his arms and carried her to the other room, carrying her suitcase as well. Once inside, he placed Lulu's luggage beside her bed and lay the sleepy girl in her soft, warm bed.

"You'll be able to see the city tomorrow after you've gotten some rest." Felix promised.

He pulled Lulu's shoes off and covered her up with the blankets, making sure she was all nice and warm. Once she was tucked in for the night, Felix ran his fingers through Lulu's hair gently, then leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead. After that, he made his way towards the door and was about to turn off the light, when Lulu's voice stopped him.

"Uncle Felix?" She called.

The agent turned to look back at her.

"Would Papa have liked Shanghai?"

Felix fought back a laugh from escaping him.

"Your father liked any place he could meet pretty women," he said.

Lulu smiled small back at Felix.

"Goodnight, Uncle Felix," she said, soft.

"Goodnight, Little Lu."

With that, the CIA agent turned off the lights and closed the bedroom door behind him.

Leaving her all to herself, Lulu stared at the ceiling for a long while, then turned to her left and looked out the window into the night and skyline of Shanghai. It was so different from London; the buildings, the social life, the constant noise of cars, people, and music outside. It was the complete opposite of home.

She missed London, yet at the same time excited to be in a new, foreign land. It was a new experience for her to be in a different country. In a different continent! She had traveled to several places in her past: Paris, Venice, Rome, Berlin, Scotland, the Swiss Alps, even to Cannes, France on the beach for a Christmas vacation one year. But she had never been somewhere like this. Every place she had been was in Europe and had similarities here and there. _This_ , however, _this_ was unlike anything she had ever seen before in her life. It opened up the young Bond's horizons tremendously.

Lulu sighed gently and continued gazing upon the skyline, then turned her eyes to the night sky. She could not see many stars due to the city's lighting, but she could spot a few here and there. There was one in particular, that caught her attention. It seemed to twinkle brighter than the others and seemed bigger in size. It was as if it were giving her some sort of encouragement and strength to finish her assignment, letting her know she would conquer the obstacles and fears she was currently facing and the ones she would face later on.

She gave a sad smile, feeling both yearning and warmth inside her. She knew who that was and what they were trying to say to her.

"Goodnight, Papa…wish me luck," Lulu said, soft. She blew the star a kiss and with that, closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Morning soon came, and Felix, Arnie, and Lulu had woke up bright and early to start their day. They went downstairs to the continental breakfast the hotel served in the main hall located in the lobby. Lulu got a plate full of yellow, fluffy scrambled eggs with a buttered biscuit, some bacon strips, and a tall glass of milk. Arnie and Felix both got pancakes covered with thick maple syrup and bacon strips. Felix had an orange and cup of black coffee with his meal, while Arnie had a banana and a glass of apple juice.

The three investigators sat in a booth near the back of the room, casually talking to one another about what their schedule would be for the day.

"So," Felix began, picking up a bite of pancake with his fork. "What do you guys want to do first?"

"I'd love to see the Great Wall." Arnie answered, filled with excitement to start his research paper studying.

"That's in Beijing, though," Lulu said, slightly confused.

"We can't have a one day road trip to Beijing?"

The young Bond rolled her eyes with a small smile on her face.

"Okay, something _local_ , Arnie," Felix said, taking a drink of coffee.

"I wanna see this place where they found Ying's body. M said it was somewhere in the suburbs of Shanghai." Lulu spoke softly.

"That's about a two hour drive there and back." The CIA agent answered.

"The maglev would be quicker than to travel by car."

"You make a good point, Little Lu."

"Where's the nearest train station?" Arnie asked, eating a strip of bacon.

"About ten minutes by cab," Lulu said.

"Then that's what we'll do," Felix said, making it final.

"Fine, but I wanna see this Bund I was reading about in a brochure last night." Arnie replied.

"I wouldn't mind taking a trip to Nanjing Road. I've heard it's really pretty with the neon lights at night." Lulu added.

"I promise we can do all the sightseeing you two want, but right now we have an assignment to complete. M is dead serious on us finding Lobster and why he killed Ying," the American said, soft but firm.

The young Bond nodded her head and turned to look down at her watch for the time.

"We better get going. I heard morning rush hour is terrible in a city," she said.

"And you heard right. Come on, kids." Felix replied.

The three of them finished their drinks, walked outside, and called for a cab in the busy morning streets. Once wavering one over, the three of them got inside, buckled up, and soon were heading out of the city.


	9. Chapter 9: The Search For Some Clues

**Chapter 9: The Search For Some Clues:**

The maglev arrived in the suburbs of Shanghai at around 10:45AM that morning. By the time Lulu, Arnie, and Felix had made their way out of the station, it was pushing 11:30.

The suburbs were much quieter than the city itself. People were riding bikes and driving small vehicles in dirt and sand pathways. Many shacks and small shops filled most of the area, having the appearance of being a poor, sketchy neighborhood.

"Where do we go first?" Lulu asked.

"Well, if you want to see the place they found Ying's body, we've got quite a bit of walking ahead of us." Felix answered, fixing his hat.

"Really?" Arnie moaned.

"Why, feeling lazy?" Lulu remarked.

"Lazy? Walking's my middle name. I don't know what you're talking about."

His best friend's reaction was her shaking her head and giving a wide grin.

The three of them walked down the road for about an hour and came across several more shacks and mini markets. There were several old sheds that looked liked they had not been used in years and some of the windows on different places were covered with paper, curtains made from rice paper, or bamboo drapes. The atmosphere gave the three travelers a slight haunted feeling. It reminded them of the bad parts of New York and London.

"I see why Lobster had his men throw Ying's body way out here; this place gives me the creeps," Arnie said, walking close to Felix's side.

"Stay together. It may be daylight out, but I'm not taking any chances." The CIA agent ordered.

"Yes, Sir."

They soon came to a shack that looked ratty, was breaking in a few places, and signs, papers, and soda cans scattered throughout the area.

"Is this it?" Lulu asked, squinting her eyes to see the building. The sun was bright and difficult to see the place without any sunglasses on.

"This is it. Where Shanghai Police found the body of Ying Chiang at approximately 11AM eastern China time," Felix said, gesturing towards the entrance inside.

Arnie and the American followed Lulu inside, who was already on the hunt for anything suspicious or something that might give them a lead on why Ying was killed and/or what it was Lobster was up to. She knelt down on the ground and pulled something out of her small, black purse. She pulled out something that was connected to a small creamy-yellowish box by a long wound up wire. The box had two dials and a gage on it. Lulu flicked a switch on the object, resembling some type of scanner, and began waving it around near the ground floor.

"Whoa," Arnie gasped. "What's that?"

Lulu looked up from her work quickly at her friend, then back down at the floor.

"A miniature Geiger counter. I'm checking for any radiation levels," she answered, concentrating on her task.

"Why?" Her friend remarked, slightly suspicious.

"We have no clue what it is Dr. Lobster might be up to, but it could possibly involve radioactive equipment or studies."

"You mean like…nuclear activity?" Arnie trembled, turning to Felix.

"Just a safety precaution, my boy. The chances of that happening is about a 5%." The American replied.

"I don't know whether I should feel better or start preparing for a nuclear war."

Felix smirked and went back to watching Lulu.

"Finding anything, Lu?" He asked.

"No…nothing but a bunch of normal readings," she said, putting the gadget back in her bag.

"Where did you get a Geiger counter in the first place?" Arnie asked, still intrigued by the device his best friend had in possession.

"Anything besides radiation levels? Another chemical, perhaps?" Felix asked Lulu, both ignoring Arnie's question.

"No…just a bunch of dirt," the girl answered.

The CIA agent pursed his lips, trying to think of anything else she could possibly check for.

While Felix stood in thought, the newly made spy scanned the area for anything that seemed to be out of the ordinary, when she spotted something that looked fishy to her. Lulu examined it with curiosity, got to her feet, and made her way over towards the object. After getting back on her knees, she picked it up, a folded up document, and read over it carefully. Her mind began to turn with questions and suspicions after looking over the information displayed before her.

"Uncle Felix," she called out. "Come look at this."

Both Felix and Arnie hurried over towards Lulu, as she got to her feet and handed the American the papers.

"Look at these," she said, pointing out certain places.

Felix took hold of the documents, read over them closely, and began to grow puzzled, too.

"These are the beginnings of an international warning for a severe breach of military and governmental security…addressed to both the United States FBI and MI6 in London," the man said.

"What kind of military breach?" Lulu asked.

" _To Director John Edgar Hoover of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and Sir Miles Messervy of Military Intelligence, Section 6. This is a state of emergency sent from the Central Intelligence Division of the Chinese Government. It is with great importance you take action immediately regarding the contents of this warning. The United States FBI's Most Wanted, Don Antony Genovese (codename Dr. Lobster), is plotting acts of terrorism and theft towards the Government and National Security of China along with several members of the Mafia he currently holds command of. Don Genovese has the intentions of robbing China of 18,006,040,000 yuan and assassination of…_ "

"Of who?"

"I don't know. The document was never finished."

Lulu fell silent before she spoke again.

"Look who it's signed by," she said, crossing her arms.

Felix turned his eyes to the final page of documentation and read the signed name out loud.

"CID Agent Ying Chiang, codename 990."

"Uncle Felix, how much is…whatever that number was you just read?"

"Sweetheart, that's about 2.6 billion American dollars."

"2.6 _billion_?!"

"Why would Dr. Lobster need 2.6 billion dollars?" Arnie asked, completely stunned by the new information.

"That's what I would like to know, too. And I want to know who it is Lobster plans on assassinating." Felix answered, placing the document in his inside jacket pocket.

"2.6 billion dollars…why would _anyone_ be in need of 2.6 billion dollars?" Lulu asked herself, trying to think of possible explanations.

"You think _that's_ why they killed Ying?" Arnie questioned.

"From keeping this document getting to the United States and London? I can _promise_ you that's why Lobster had him killed," Felix said, turning to face the boy.

"So, we know why Ying was murdered…it's what Lobster plans are that we don't know. I can make a safe bet that Ying somehow managed to find out that information and made an attempt to send a letter of warning both to the United States and London for help, when Lobster's men killed him before he could ever finish the complete report," Lulu hypothesized.

"You sound so much like your father, it's scary," the American said, feeling a slight chill run through his spine. If she had gotten anything from James, it was his quick thinking brain and intelligence.

"So, how do we find out what Lobster's game is?" Arnie asked. "Surely, if Ying found out, someone else knows of Lobster's intentions on China and their government. How else would he have gotten a hold of that information?"

"There's gotta be someone else that knows. Who was Ying last seen with?" James's daughter asked.

"I couldn't tell you, kid. All I know is where his body was found and what I know about the man from files I read back in the States." Felix answered.

"What do we do, then?"

"The only thing we _can_ do; start talking to locals and see if we can't find out anything."

"Should we head back to the city or stay here and ask people who live around here instead?"

"Let's go back to the city for now. If anything comes up that involves this area, we'll come back and interrogate later. Right now, I'd like to get this document back to the hotel and locked up in my briefcase. It's too dangerous to be carrying this kind of thing around with us."

"Good point."

"Come on, guys. Let's get out of here."

Arnie and Lulu followed Felix from behind, and the three of them made their way back to the maglev station.

Not too far off in the distance, there was a man all dressed in black and a fedora concealing everything on his face, but his mouth and the top of his nose. He stood in the shadows, keeping careful watch on the three walking back while making sure none of them could spot him out. He took careful note of each of them, committing as much to memory as possible. He first took note of the tall man, who seemed to be walking with two teenaged children. He had a black hat and was wearing black shoes and a suit. The man had brown hair and appeared to be in his late thirties to early forties.

The next one was a male child. He could not have been more than 16-17 years of age. He had brown hair neatly brushed and combed, wore glasses, and was wearing black shoes, pants, and a dark gray trench coat.

And lastly, he looked at the young girl. She appeared to be around the same age. She was wearing black shoes, a light pink dress that went a little past her knees with a white t-shirt underneath, and a white sweater over it. She had lighter brown hair than the boy and looked like she was in deep thought about something.

The man in the shadows had seen and witnessed everything that had taken place at the old, abandoned shack. He had taken notes on what they were discussing, what they had learned, and what they had yet to. He was determined to get back to his contact and report to him what he had observed and update him on their whereabouts.

Without a single word or sound, he turned on his feet and made his mysterious way back towards his car.

* * *

Felix shut his briefcase and turned the locks to seal it tight. Satisfied that the documentation they had found at the abandoned shack was secured, he turned to face the two kids sitting on his bed talking. When they had spotted the American turning to them, both Lulu and Arnie stopped and waited for the CIA agent to speak.

"We're going to need more help finding Lobster and his plans than I thought we would need." He began.

"Can we contact M?" Lulu questioned.

"M has told us everything he knows regarding this case. That's why he sent us here to find out the rest."

"Perhaps the last place he was would have someone knowing who last spoke with Ying," Arnie suggested.

Felix thought a bit longer, bit his lower lip, and nodded.

"I think I might actually _have_ someone who can help us," he said.

"Who?" Lulu asked, curious.

"You two kids ever been to a nightclub?"

"We're 16," Arnie remarked, as if it were an absurd question.

"Papa would have _killed_ me!" Lulu added, stunned to be asked such a thing.

"Why?" The boy asked, suddenly interested.

"Children," the American began. "Tonight, we go clubbing."


	10. Chapter 10: A Night In Shanghai

**Chapter 10: A Night In Shanghai:**

It was about 9:30 at night, when Felix, Arnie, and Lulu got dressed and left the hotel to go to a nearby nightclub. Being a Saturday night, it was a busy place with lots of people and cars going places.

The three of them were finally able to call a cab and headed their way towards club. They could hear the music blaring from the club two blocks down, where the trio had to walk the rest of the way.

Both Felix and Arnie were wearing nice, black suits and ties with their black shoes. Lulu was wearing her black flats, white socks, a plain blue dress with short sleeves and that went down to the bottom of her knee caps, and carrying her black purse strapped around her shoulder. She quickly stretched her arm down to check that her gun was still strapped around her left leg and concealed underneath her dress. Finding it still in its place, her anxiety eased away and continued with her walk.

About halfway there, Felix turned to face them, grabbed two cards out of his suit pocket, and handed one to each teen.

"What are these?" Lulu asked, flipping it back and forth. It was a card with their picture on it and a false name and information about them.

"Fake IDs. You're both from the United States and 21 year old college kids here on spring break. Get rid of those as soon as this assignment is over, though. Not trying to promote fake identification use," the American answered.

"No problem. My parents' are already gonna kill me enough as it is for skipping school and sneaking out of the country," Arnie said, putting the fake ID in his wallet. Lulu did the same with hers.

The three resumed walking and soon enough were in a long line to enter the club. There was a huge body guard manning the entrance. He was a tall, muscular Chinese man wearing all black clothing and looked like he could crush a person's neck with the force of just one of his hands. The bodyguard had both kids intimidated and questioning whether this was a good idea or not. They both turned to look at Felix, their eyes sending the message to the CIA spy.

"You guys are alright. Just play it cool, and you'll get in just fine." He answered.

Both Arnie and Lulu nodded, took a deep breath in, and kept their faces as neutral as possible.

It was soon their turn, and just like Felix said, all three got in without any problems. The place was filled with colored lights or dimly lit with actual lights. There was a stage up front where people were performing either singing, dancing, or playing instruments. On the opposite side of the room was a bar and bar table to sit at.

"This place is so loud!" Lulu yelled.

"I know! I think I lost hearing in my left ear!" Arnie shouted back.

"It'll mellow down with live players in a while! You guys go over there to the bar and order a soda or glass of water! I'm dancing a little before finding who I'm looking for!" Felix shouted over the music, and soon made his way off onto the dance floor. He spotted a pretty Chinese woman wearing a red dress and joined her in dancing for awhile before a pretty blonde in a satin dark purple dress joined the two.

The booming music soon ended, a few more lights turned on, and people could finally hear one another speaking. Finally able to talk and able to understand others, the two teens made their way to the bar and got up in the tall chairs to order.

"I'll have a glass of root beer," Arnie said.

"I'll take a glass of water. Add a slice of lemon, please," Lulu requested.

Both teens had their drinks quickly, turned to watch the dance floor, and took sips of their beverages while talking with one another.

"Who do you think this guy Mr. Leiter's talking about is?" Arnie asked.

"Don't have the slightest idea, my friend." Lulu answered, and took another gulp of her water.

"And how are you doing?"

The girl turned to look at her friend, wondering what he meant by that.

"How I'm doing?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Your…" Arnie started circling his hand around, trying to ask what he meant without finishing the thought. He did not want to upset Lulu, especially when she seemed to be doing better since coming to Shanghai. "G-R-I-E-F?"

Lulu spelled the word out in her brain and finally understood the question. Her facial expression changed to a tired frown and sighed heavily.

"I'm alright…just hard to think about is all," she said.

"Did I upset you?"

Lulu shook her head with a sad smile.

"No…I'm alright…just tired…it wears a person out for awhile."

"Indeed."

Lulu looked at the dance floor, back at Arnie, and gave a small smile.

"Let's dance," she said.

"I beg your pardon?" Arnie remarked, as if she had just spoken a foreign language.

"Dance," she answered, moving her arms up and down a little.

"Kid, I don't dance."

"Come on," Lulu said, with a gesture of her head. "I'll teach yah."

The teenage boy let out a deep breath of air, then nodded and got to his feet with his best friend. Soon enough, the two were dancing side to side, tapping their feet to the music, and Lulu was even teaching him a few dance moves like the jazz square. Arnie could not help but grin.

"You got some moves there, Lulu!" He cried, amazed with his friend.

"Papa said there are two things a Bond needs to know without thinking; that's dancing and sweet talk." The girl answered, with a wide smile.

Arnie's face lit up more, seeing Lulu enjoying herself for the first time since James had died, and started getting into it. Both teens were so engrossed in what they were doing and enjoying themselves, completely forgetting their personal problems and current assignment. They were in the moment, and both of them loved it and felt free.

As they continued dancing, two men in mob suits entered the facility and made their way towards the stage and performers. Both men had dark brown hair, piercing dark blue eyes, and were about six feet tall. They began scanning the area, as if they were in search for someone. Not finding them, both men turned to face towards one another.

"You see him, Fallaci?" The first one asked, speaking with a heavy Italian accent.

"No one that looks suspicious," the second man said. He, too spoke with a strong Italian accent.

"008's gotta be _somewhere_ in this area."

"It doesn't help that we have no idea what he even looks like."

"Well, if we don't get rid of _him_ , Don's getting rid of _us!_ "

"So, what do yah suggest, Colombo? How the hell do we find this guy without knowing what he looks like?"

"Be on the lookout for now. Maybe he'll show up somewhere."

Fallaci sighed with frustration, then both turned to watch the live performers and began to dance to the music.

Across the room, Lulu caught something funny out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at the two men that had just entered into the club. Seeing their clothing and physical appearances made her pause in her dancing and raise an eyebrow in suspicion. She was curious to know who they were and what made them dress the way they were currently. The two men looked as if they wanted to stay out of notice and hidden in the shadows, and it gave her an uneasy feeling.

Seeing his friend's sudden change in behavior, Arnie turned to Lulu and looked at her with concern.

"You alright, Lu?" He asked, worried.

"Look at those two men over there," she said, gesturing with her head.

Arnie turned to look in the same direction Lulu was and saw the two men she had spotted. His face changed from a look of worry to one of cynicism.

"Who are they?" He questioned, keeping careful eyes on their suspects.

"I don't know. But I don't like the feeling I'm getting about them."

"You think they might be Lobster's men?"

"It's a good possibility."

"What do we do?"

"Act like you don't see them. Keep careful observation, though. We need more to go on than just their physical appearance in order to make contact."

"No problem, my friend."

Both teenagers went back to dancing and acting like everyone else, though watching both men for anything that caused further suspicion or interest to them.

At the end of the bar table, the man that had been spying on Lulu, Arnie, and Felix was again watching the two kids while drinking a glass of lemon drop. He kept reserved, to himself, and did not talk or socialize with anyone. He observed the two before him, studying each of them carefully. He paid most of his attention to the girl, Lulu. The man watched her every move, who she talked to, what she did, and what she said to others. He took another drink and continued observing both teens underneath the black hat that concealed the top part of his face.

While dancing, Colombo and Fallaci turned their heads and spotted both Arnie and Lulu. Both men found her attractive and a decent dancer. Her blue dress complimented her light brown hair and brought out her eye color of a bright blue from what it appeared to look like.

"Who is she?" Fallaci asked, staring in awe at Lulu.

"I don't know…but she certainly is gorgeous." Colombo answered, stunned by the young girl's appearance.

"You think Don would mind if we put off looking for 008 for a minute?"

Colombo gave an irritated sigh, but gave in.

"Fine. Go dance with her. I'll remain here and keep watch for anyone suspicious." He answered, gruff.

Taking interest in her, Fallaci started making his way towards the young Bond and her friend.

Arnie, listening in on their conversation and seeing some movement in the corner of his eye, he spotted the one man making their way towards them, while the other one stayed back and observed them.

"Lu, I think we're in trouble," he said, soft.

"Why'd you say that?" She asked.

Arnie tapped her on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the two mysterious men.

Lulu looked quickly at them.

"I heard them talking about 'searching for 008' and 'if Don would mind a minute break'." He reported.

Lulu turned her eyes to her best friend quickly, then back to the front.

"Just act casual. Follow my lead and don't ask questions," she directed.

"Got it, kid." Arnie answered.

The two of them continued dancing and were soon joined by Fallaci, who took interest in Lulu quickly.

The young Bond looked up at the older man, gave an innocent smile, and continued her dancing. Following in her father's footsteps, she tried acting as attractive and charming as she could in order to catch the two men off guard.

Fallaci was turned on with Lulu's moves and dancing skills. Though attracted to her and believed she was like any other young lady, watching from afar, Colombo could not help but feel something a bit off with Lulu. Something about her seemed familiar, but he could not understand why. Shrugging the feeling off, he continued watching his fellow co. worker, Arnie, and the undercover spy.

Lulu continued on with the act a little longer, watching for something in Fallaci's eyes that said he was only focused on her and her physical attractiveness. Once she finally found it, she grabbed a hold of Fallaci's jacket and pointed her gun at his chest, her eyes glowing with fury and fire.

Stunned briefly, the mobster quickly came out of it and gave a sinister look at her while stifling a chuckle.

"008." He sneered.

"Pleasure to be acquainted myself." Lulu growled.

Fallaci made a reach for his pistol, when the young girl's voice caught him off guard.

"I wouldn't try, if I were you," she warned, without her eyes ever off of him. "I'll have you shot so fast, you won't know what hit yah."

Glaring coldly at her, the man followed orders and put his hands in the air.

Lulu gestured with her head to the wall on the far right side of the room.

"Up against the wall," she ordered, her tone icy. "Now! And I tend to be a bit trigger happy!"

Arnie shoved Fallaci, grabbing the man's gun out of its holster, and kept watch from the back while Lulu did so in the front.

While in route to the wall, the man watching them earlier turned his head in the direction they were headed, taking careful note on what was happening. He wanted to report as much detail back to his superior as possible. He took another sip of his lemon drop and continued his gaze on the two children and the mob member.

Colombo, witnessing everything from the opposite side of the room, started making his way towards the three of them, when spotting that both children had firearms in their hands, and the boy had Fallaci's in the other. Not willing to risk his own life with an attempted rescue, he hurried out of the club to report back to Lobster he had located 008.

Lulu had Arnie slam Fallaci against the wall, while she began frisking the man for any other hidden weapons on him. During the middle of it, Fallaci tried to make a run for it, but he was struck down onto the floor with the back of Lulu's gun hitting him right in between the back of his shoulders.

The man landed with an 'oompf' and lay there in pain.

"Get up!" Lulu barked, her gun aimed right at the mobster's head.

Fallaci tried to jump up and suddenly attack the girl, but she was one step ahead and kicked the man back to the ground. She then let Arnie pass by, who grabbed Fallaci by the shirt collar up off the ground and slammed him into the wall.

Lulu came closer and placed her gun at the man's neck, aimed right for his aorta.

"Start talking," she said, soft.

Fallaci tried grabbing for something in his jacket, but Arnie whacked his hand away.

"I need a drink. Get me my drink out of my jacket." The man begged, completely out of breath.

Lulu turned to her best friend and gestured for him to grab the man's drink out for him.

Arnie followed orders, found a small bottle with blue liquid inside the man's jacket, and handed him the drink.

Fallaci had the whole thing down in one gulp, then began to make a noise resembling someone being suffocated. His eyes soon closed and fell to the floor unconscious.

Both kids watched the man fall to the ground, turned to look at one another with confusion and slight worry, then Lulu bent over to pick up the bottle and sniffed the inside of it slightly. She turned to Arnie, her facial expression somewhat shocked still from what had just occurred.

"Tetrodotoxin," she said, quiet. "He's dead."


	11. Chapter 11: Making Contact

**Chapter 11: Making Contact:**

Once back in their hotel room, Felix sniffed the small bottle, took his finger around the top, then put barely a drop of the remaining liquid in his mouth. He made a puckered face, then nodded while throwing the bottle away in the trash.

"That's tetrodotoxin alright," he said, making his way to the two kids sitting on Arnie's bed. "Having it be a part of China's history regarding medicine, it wouldn't be difficult to get a hold of this."

"It didn't look like it took long to kill him," Arnie said, remembering the earlier events of tonight.

"It's toxicity is extremely severe. It's said that it is more poisonous and quicker to kill someone than cyanide."

"Therefore killing him within seconds after ingestion."

"Correct, my boy."

"Is it a painful death?" Lulu asked, curious to learn more about the toxin.

"You ever had an asthma attack?" Felix replied, turning to face her.

"Not since I was seven…I don't remember much of it, either."

"It's like that, but more intense and much faster in its attack."

"Sounds horrid." Although grateful to have one less man of Lobster's to worry about, she could not help but feel dread over an ordinary human life dying in such a way. It sounded like a nightmare to her.

"Not a preferred way to die." Felix answered.

"Did you ever find that guy you were looking for?" Arnie asked, changing the topic of discussion.

"No, but I did find one of his colleagues. I told him what was going on and said he would let him know. We meet with him tomorrow morning in the ballroom of the InterContinental Shanghai Pudong Hotel," the American said.

"What's his name?" Lulu asked.

"Dr. Mao Zhang. He's a Chinese agent that works for MI6 stationed here in Shanghai. Lulu, I want you to make contact with him tomorrow. Arnie and I will be on lookout in the other room for any of Lobster's men that might be spying in on us. If anyone knows about the last time Ying was seen, it's him."

"There a special code I need to know it's him?"

"I'll tell you more details in the morning before you go to meet with him. He's an older man. Wears glasses, has blackish gray hair, and about 5'11"."

Lulu nodded.

"Got it," she said.

"And now that Lobster's men know what 008 looks like, it'll be even more vital to keep your real identity hidden. If he finds out who you really are, you'll be in much more danger than you already are."

The young girl gulped, her expression turning from one of curiosity to one of anxiety.

"I'd rather prefer that _not_ happen," she said, meek.

"From this point on, we only use your last name in this room unless I say otherwise…got it?" Felix asked, his tone firm.

"Yes, Sir," Arnie said, soft.

"Yes, Uncle Felix," Lulu added.

"Good," the American said. He looked at his watch and nodded. "It's almost 1AM. We better get headed for bed. I want us up and ready at 7:30 exactly. It's about a 45 minute drive from here to the hotel."

Both children nodded, then made their separate ways to get ready for bed.

After brushing her teeth and putting on her pajamas, Lulu crawled underneath her bed covers, turned off the light, then lay in bed awake for awhile. She had been thinking about her father a lot that night. Dancing at the club, tricking Lobster's men like he would have done, Fallaci's death, it had struck many memories within her. It was Fallaci's death that got to her the most. It made her remember the night her father had died: sitting by his bedside, giving him hugs and kisses, praying to have as much time with him as possible before… _it_ happened.

She closed her eyes tight, fighting back with all her strength to not start crying. She could feel the emotional pain striking her harder inside her chest and made the urge to cry much more difficult to fight off. Lulu felt water burn in her eyes, and a few tears managed to escape and roll down her face.

 _I'll never be gone too far away_ , she heard James say inside her head.

"Oh, Papa…" She finally reached her breaking point and began crying. What she would not have given to see him again, even if it were just for a few seconds. She needed his advice on how to defeat Lobster, to see his smile, to hug him and let him know how much she loved and looked up to him.

Lulu continued crying, when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She calmed herself down enough to turn to her right and see who it was that was standing there. She saw Felix kneeling at her bedside in his pajamas and looking at her with empathy.

Lulu sat up in bed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and continued sobbing.

The American rubbed her back and hushed her softly.

"I know, sweetheart. I know," he said, quiet.

The only answer he received was little whimpers and sniffling.

"He's right here with us, hon…he never left us entirely."

"Papa…I miss you, Papa." Lulu bawled.

"I know…he knows…we _all_ miss him."

Felix took his thumbs and wiped Lulu's wet cheeks, though more fell. He helped her to her feet and wrapped an arm around James's daughter.

"Come on. You can sleep in my bed tonight," he said, running his fingers through her hair.

Lulu nodded, still softly sobbing, and both headed out into the main room for the remainder of their night.

* * *

Colombo made his way down a dark, silent hallway, knocked on a door on the right side halfway down, and entered on command. Once inside, he made his way to his boss's desk next to his partner, Mazzanti, both being Lobster's assistants.

"Well?" Lobster demanded, irritated with the ongoing silence. "Did you find him?"

" _She_ , Don," Colombo said, with a slight snarl.

" _She_!"

"008 is a female. And might I say a fairly young one, too. She's no where _near_ past the age of 20."

"And Fallaci; where is he?"

"Dead. 008 tried making him talk and killed himself with a vial of tetrodotoxin. I would have made an attempt at rescue, but it would not serve you well with two men dead and not knowing more information on who 008 is."

Lobster looked like he was about to snap, but took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly. His body slowly lost tension and was finally able to speak calmly.

"You made the right decision, Colombo," he said, then snapped his head to his second assistant. "Mazzanti, I'm putting you and Colombo in charge of this assignment from here on out. I want 008 brought back here, and I want her alive. You are to kill her only if necessary."

" _Si, Capo_ ," the man said, with a firm nod.

"There's something off with her, Don. She looks familiar to me, but I don't know why." Colombo commented, agitated that he could not figure out who the young agent was.

"Then I'd advise you to find out, Colombo. I want every mount of information you can find out about 008, _capisce_?" Lobster snarled.

"Yes, Don."

"Good. Now, get out!"

Both Mazzanti and Colombo made their way out of Lobster's office and without another word, closed the door behind them.

Now to himself, Lobster put a fist to his mouth and sat in silence. He would not rest until he knew that 008 was dead and out of the way. His plans to assassinate Chairman Mao and corrupt the government of its money was at its peak, and he refused for it to all be ruined by some young, amateur of a 00 agent. He had already dealt with one of those and succeeded in his demise. He was determined to do the same with this one.

* * *

"Lulu…Lulu…yo, Lu!" Arnie's voice called out in the morning.

The young Bond was peacefully sleeping and seemed in complete tranquility. As much as he wanted to sleep after last night himself, Felix had given them their orders to be ready at 7:30 on the dot, and it was pushing 6:55 already. The American was in the main bathroom taking a shower and getting ready for the day.

After getting nothing for a response, Arnie took a pillow on his bed and threw it at his friend's face.

Feeling the fluffy object smack her in the face, Lulu whimpered, sat up in bed, and glared at her friend.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. Time to get up," the boy said.

"It's not even 7:00 yet."

"It's gonna take at least a half hour to get dressed and eat something for breakfast."

Letting out a deep sigh, Lulu climbed out of bed and headed for her room to get dressed for the day. She just missed Felix, when he came out of the bathroom straightening his black tie.

"Lulu get up?" He asked, spotting his bed vacant.

"It took throwing a pillow at her face, but she got up." Arnie answered.

"Be easy on her, today. She didn't have a good night."

"Something wrong?"

"No, she was just missing her pop real bad last night is all."

The teenager hung his head and closed his eyes, ashamed at waking her up the way he did.

"Now, I feel bad," he said sadly.

"You didn't do anything wrong. Just be easy with her, today. Unless she brings it up, I think it's best of us to lay off on discussing James today. Give her a day to recuperate."

Arnie nodded, and the two were soon joined by Lulu, who was in a pink sweater and a white skirt that went down to her shins. She had a small sparkly hair clip on the left side of her head for decoration.

Spotting his best friend, Arnie got up and made his way over to her, then gave her a gentle hug as a way to say 'sorry' for her loss and for the rude way he had woken her up.

The young Bond raised her eyebrow slightly and turned to look at Felix.

The American did not need to say anything in response. His eyes conveyed the message he wanted to send.

Lulu looked back at Arnie, gave a small smile, then leaned her head on his shoulder and gave him a hug back.

Felix could not resist the grin that grew on his face. He knew James would have been happy to know his daughter had a wonderful friend in her life. She needed him now more than ever in this part of her life.

"Alright, son. Get brushing on your teeth. I'm timing you," he said jokingly.

"What?!" Arnie exclaimed.

Lulu smirked.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," she teased.

The boy gave her a playful glare, then rolled his eyes and headed into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

* * *

The three grabbed a taxi after eating breakfast and soon arrived at their destination. Once receiving the information she needed, Lulu made her way into the ballroom where some business dinner was to take place later. While she did that, Felix and Arnie waited in the front lobby with their guns, making sure no one suspicious made their way inside the building.

The young spy gripped her firearm tight in her hand, scanning the area for anything that looked out of order or suspicious to her. Finding nothing, she made her entrance inside the ballroom and began looking for a man that fit Zhang's physical description. She glanced over each table for anyone she thought would be her possible contact, when her eyes landed on someone not too far in front of her.

At a big, round table covered with a white tablecloth sat one older gentlemen in a dark blue suit, a maroonish purple tie, had glasses, blackish gray hair, and looked around his late 40s-early 50s. He was flipping through a black binder at what looked like contained business work and speech notes.

Taking her chances, Lulu let out a deep breath to calm her nerves, concealed her weapon, and made her approach to the man. Once she finally reached the table, she hesitated to speak and was relieved when the man finally looked up at her. He gave a look of slight confusion, not recognizing who the young stranger was.

"Good morning, Miss. Can I help you with something?" He asked, with a fairly strong Chinese accent.

"Good morning…I was wondering if you knew where the elevator was." Lulu spoke quietly.

He raised his eyebrow, closed his binder, and gave her more of his attention.

"Past the front lobby and near the swimming pool. Which floor are you headed for?"

" _Bā_."

The man smiled, got to his feet, and stuck out his hand to shake.

"Miss 008, a pleasure to meet you. Dr. Mao Zhang of MI6 Shanghai," Zhang said kindly.

"Lulu," she answered, with a small smile back.

The old man gestured for her to sit down, then made his way back to his own chair. Once they were both sitting down, Zhang gave his complete attention to the young 00 agent.

"I was told you are sent here from Mr. Leiter, a good friend of mine," he said, soft.

"Yes, Sir," Lulu said, with a gentle nod. "We are here in Shanghai investigating the murder of CID agent, Ying Chiang."

"I knew him. He was a good man and one of well respect. He will be missed by many…and how are you doing? I was told by my colleague Felix spoke with about your recent loss."

"Papa," Lulu softly said. She gave a frown and felt a single tear roll down her cheek.

Zhang gave her a look of sympathy and reached out to gently pat her hand.

"I'm sorry, little one. I did an assignment many years ago with 007. He was a very good man. He will never be forgotten, Little Lulu, I promise you that. A very good man indeed." He answered.

The young girl smiled small. She always liked meeting people that were friends with her father and that respected him greatly. It only strengthened her belief that James Bond had changed the lives of many and influenced others to try and be just like he had been.

"Papa would've been happy to see you again," she said, feeling her father smile down at both of them. "Are you an actual doctor, Dr. Zhang."

"Many years ago, dear. I served as one in the Chinese Army during World War II. After the Japanese had surrendered, I decided to retire from my medical career and flew out to London to join MI6 as an undercover spy to be stationed in southern China. I'm responsible to report to the United States or London with any information on possible criminal activity going on within the country."

"So, you're the one who alerted Papa and Mr. Leiter about Ying's murder and Dr. Lobster's suspicious activity."

"Correct, my dear."

"Do _you_ know what happened the night Ying disappeared?"

"Very little. I know he had been here on investigation regarding Dr. Lobster's recent activity and never returned to work the following morning. A city wide search was put out, and 990's body was found in suburb Shanghai early Thursday morning in an old, abandoned shack. Stabbed and shot at least three times to death. I was then reported to by one of my agents about the police's findings and made emergency contact with M in London and Mr. Hoover of the United States CIA the following hour."

Zhang handed a picture of Ying to Lulu.

"That was taken a few days before 990 disappeared," he said.

The young Bond looked at the black and white photo in detail. It was a picture of two men standing at the edge of a dock on the beach with their arms wrapped around one another's shoulders. The one man she assumed was Ying. A fairly young man, no older than around the age of 26 years. He had jet black hair, tan skin, and was wearing a long sleeved, button up shirt and dark pants. It was the other man that had Lulu's mind racing. It was an African American man, a tad taller than Ying was. He was wearing a tank top and pants, looked around his early 30s, and wearing a fishing hat.

"Who's the man with Ying?" She asked, curious.

"Arnold Walmer is his name. He's an important businessman from California. He does many business trades with China and Japan. Travels to both countries at least four times a year. We believe he may have been the last person seen with Ying before his disappearance."

"What would a businessman have to do with an important Chinese spy, though? Were they friends or acquaintances of some sort?"

"Unknown, little one. I have no knowledge of what 990's relationship was with this man. All we know is that he may have something to do or knows what happened with Ying the night he disappeared and assumingly murdered."

Across the room was the man that had spied on Lulu last night at the club. He was watching the young girl discuss something with the man across the table from her. It looked business related, but he could not get any closer without the risk of being spotted by either one of them. He remained in the shadows and continued to observe silently.

"Dr. Zhang…do you have any ideas on what Dr. Lobster's plans are. Yesterday at the shack his body was located, Mr. Leiter and I found the beginnings of an international warning that was addressed to go to London and the United States. It said that he wanted to corrupt China's government of over 2.6 billion American dollars and to assassinate someone…but it looked like Ying never got the chance to finish his report to say _who_ that someone was."

"I do not, Miss Lulu. I am sorry sincerely."

"It's not your fault…" She looked back down at the picture quickly before returning her eyes to Zhang. "Do you know where I can find this Arnold Walmer?"

"He's staying at the Park Hotel in Nanjing. I would get in contact with him to find out more about Mr. Chiang's murder."

Lulu gave a friendly smile.

"Thank you, Dr. Zhang. You've been a lot of help," she said.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Lulu. I wish you luck in the rest of your mission." The man answered, shaking the young girl's hand.

"Stay safe."

"You, too."

The two said their goodbyes, then Lulu made her way out to the front lobby to give her full report to Felix and Arnie.


	12. Chapter 12: Going For A Nightly Stroll

**A/N:** Because my Mondays and Wednesdays are so busy with classes all day, I'm posting two chapters today. Hope you guys enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Going For A Nightly Stroll:**

It took about an hour to travel from the InterContinental Shanghai Pudong Hotel to the Park Hotel. Once arriving, Felix, Lulu, and Arnie made their way inside the building to the lobby desk. There, they saw a young Chinese lady working the area and filing paper work. She looked up after Felix's shadow hovered over her.

"Good day, Sir. Do you have a reservation?" She asked, giving a shy smile.

"Uh, no, we're actually looking for someone. You know where we can find an Arnold Walmer? It's rather urgent we speak with him." The American replied, calm.

The check-in lady pointed down the hall.

"He is in the pool and hot tub area," she said.

"Thank you, Miss."

Felix gestured for Arnie and Lulu to follow, and soon the three were off in the direction of the indoor swimming pool and hot tub. All of them entered inside the warm room and spotted a few people in the pool and about three in the hot tub on the other side of the area.

All three of them scanned the room for Walmer, then spotted a tall African American man getting out from the water and grabbing a long, white towel to dry off with.

Lulu gasped, now seeing the man in real life.

"He looks just like Quarrel," she barely spoke.

"Who?" Arnie asked, confused with his friend's comment.

"I'll tell you later."

Felix made his way towards the man and tapped him on the shoulder. Getting the man's attention, he turned to face the American spy and looked at him questionably.

"Can I help you, Sir?" He asked, unsure of himself.

"Are you Arnold Walmer?" Felix responded, his tone flat.

"Yes, that would be me."

Felix pulled out his badge and flipped it open for Walmer to read.

"Felix Leiter, US CIA. You are wanted for questioning regarding the murder of CID agent, Ying Chiang. Codename 990."

"You know Ying?" Walmer gasped.

"We know _of_ him. My fellow colleagues and I are here on investigation. We were told by sources that you may know something regarding his disappearance and sudden death."

" _We_?"

Felix pointed back to Arnie and Lulu, who were standing quietly on the other side of the pool.

"Those are just two kids." The businessman remarked.

"One of them happens to be a 00 agent. I'd advise you for your cooperation in order to avoid any difficulties." The American spy warned.

Not wishing to cause any trouble, Walmer nodded, put on his shirt, and followed Felix towards a table near the pool entrance. Lulu and Arnie sat around Felix and watched Walmer carefully from across the table.

"Which one of them is the 00 agent?" Their suspect asked, his voice a bit shaky.

Lulu pulled out her gun and pointed it at Walmer, her face completely void of emotion.

The African American swallowed a lump in his throat and turned to Felix helplessly. His eyes were pleading for mercy.

"She won't fire…not unless necessary," the CIA agent said, firm.

"Yes, Sir. I'll do whatever you wish, Mr. Leiter." He promised, nodding with fear.

Felix turned to look at Lulu and nodded for her to put away her weapon. The young girl put her gun back in the holster wrapped around her leg as response. She never spoke a word and kept her eyes cautiously on Walmer.

On the opposite side of the pool, Mazzanti and Colombo hid behind a wall that separated the bathrooms from the pool. Both of them were observing the group of four discussing something in particular, but could not hear well due to the echo and the sound of other people swimming or talking.

"Why does that girl look so familiar?!" Colombo spat, soft.

"Not familiar, but something does seem off about her…but I can't put my finger on it," Mazzanti said.

"I've seen her before. Where have I seen her before?"

"Wish we could get closer and listen in on them."

"I'm not resting, until I figure out why that girl looks so damn familiar to me."

"Mr. Walmer, I'd like to know your relationship with Mr. Chiang. How did you two know one another?" Felix asked, lacing his fingers together on top of the table.

"I knew Ying for about four years. We met at a bar in downtown Shanghai one night and became fast friends." The African American answered.

"And did you ever know of his work with the CID?"

"He told me a little after two years of knowing one another. Actually, he asked me to help on his last assignment before…before…" Walmer could not finish his sentence. It looked like it pained him just to have the thought run through his mind. Losing one of his close friends in such an unexpected and horrific way was unthinkable.

Relating on a similar level, Lulu looked at the businessman with empathy in her eyes.

"It's alright, Mr. Walmer. I understand…you don't have to discuss that right now," she said kindly.

Walmer nodded, collected himself, then resumed speaking with the three before him.

"You helped Ying with his last assignment? How so?" Felix asked, growing interested.

"There's a man that has recently brought trouble into China's government. He goes by the name of Dr. Lobster…I don't have any knowledge of his actual name. Since I worked in the United States and knew an outsider familiar with Lobster, Ying asked me to do some investigating to figure out what this guy was up to and report back to him…he planned on killing Lobster once he knew his plans for China."

"We know a bit on what Lobster plans on doing. Part of his plan is to corrupt China of about 2.6 billion dollars. The second part of his plan we know of vaguely. He wanted to assassinate someone, but Ying never got to finish his state of warning to find out who that someone is."

"I can tell you that answer without a doubt. Lobster plans on murdering Mao Zedong, then blaming London for his death and hoping to start a war between both countries. With that going on, he hopes to gain control of the Chinese government himself and become dictator of China."

"Chairman Mao?" Lulu gasped, her eyes wide.

"Indeed, Miss Lulu."

"How did you get a hold of this information?" Felix questioned.

"Like I said, I knew an outsider that had a history with Lobster. He used to serve in his Mafia for several years before turning traitor and going into hiding. He had become a private investigator and spied on Lobster and his criminal activity. That's how he found out about his plans to rob China of its money and premeditated murder of Chairman Zedong," Walmer said.

"Who was this man?"

"I never found out his real name. I knew him by the nickname he went by: Black Rat. He told me what he knew, and I never saw him again after that…like he just completely vanished into thin air."

"Or killed for squealing on Lobster," Lulu hypothesized.

"That's a high possibility, 008." Walmer replied.

"And you then alerted Ying of this news," Felix said.

"Yes, Mr. Leiter. I remember that night like the back of my hand. It was the last time I ever saw him. I had him come meet me at the InterContinental Shanghai Pudong Hotel dressed like a businessman. I thought no would suspect anything out of two businessmen discussing their work with one another. We sat at a table in the back, and I told him what I had learned from Black Rat. He promised to get in touch with MI6 and the United States CIA when he got to work first thing in the morning…then three days later, I read about his death in the paper."

"And that was the last time you saw or heard from Mr. Chiang."

"Yes, Sir."

"Kill Chairman Mao…that's a high enough crime to be sentenced to death if committed." Arnie spoke, still trying to wrap the whole plot around his head.

"It could cause great disruption with China's foreign relationships far more severe than they are currently. The death of their country's leader would be the last straw," Felix said.

"Can you help us find him?" Lulu asked, part of her hopeful this man could aid them.

"I'll do so to the best of my ability, Miss Lulu. It will be challenging, however." Walmer answered.

"Finding a criminal always is, my friend," Felix said, sly.

"So, where do we start?" Arnie asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

The American spy turned to look at Lulu on his right.

"You said you wanted to see Nanjing Road at night?" He asked.

Lulu's face brightened.

"Really?" She cried, filling with excitement like a child on Christmas Day.

"Tonight. As soon as darkness falls, we head out in search of Lobster and/or his headquarters."

"What do we do, when we find him?" Arnie questioned.

"Exactly what we were told to do: get rid of him."

* * *

The group of four grabbed dinner at a restaurant near the hotel, then around 7PM, Lulu, Felix, and Walmer headed out into the streets of Nanjing in search of Lobster or his men. Arnie stayed behind at the hotel to be lookout from Walmer's bedroom window with binoculars.

Lulu walked in the center with Felix on her left and Walmer on her right. The CIA agent had his arm wrapped around Lulu's shoulders, as the three walked down the sidewalk and looked at a few store windows. The lights were bright and colorful, and the streets were crammed with people and other cars going in all sorts of directions. The young Bond had never seen anything like it in her entire life. It was absolutely stunning.

"Where do we go first, Uncle Felix?" She asked, staring in awe at all the lights and buildings.

"For now, I think we should just take a nice, nightly stroll," he said, with a small smile.

"I'm alright with that idea." Walmer answered.

The three of them continued on their calm trek down Nanjing Road, when Lulu spotted something odd a few yards ahead of them. It was a man in a mobster uniform standing alongside the wall of a building. He was smoking a pipe and seemed to be watching the people going back and forth in front of him. At the moment, it looked like he had not taken notice of them yet.

"Uncle Felix," Lulu said, soft.

"What's up, kiddo?" Felix asked.

The young girl took her finger and pointed ahead of them.

"Look over there," she said.

Both men followed Lulu's finger and saw the man turn to his right and walk through a dark alley, disappearing into the night.

"Follow him," Felix ordered. "Mr. Walmer, come with me. If 008 doesn't get to him in time, we'll catch him on the other side."

"Got it, Mr. Leiter," Walmer said.

The two men turned around, ran back to the corner of the sidewalk, and made a sharp right turn.

Once all to herself, Lulu pulled out her gun and swiftly made her way down the sidewalk to the entrance of the alley.

While the three split off in their own directions, Arnie stood on the balcony of Walmer's hotel room with his binoculars and zoomed in on his 00 friend and kept his eyes focused on the mysterious man that had once been there. Whenever he found it appropriate, he looked away from the spying equipment and took notes of what he was seeing and what might be useful information to report back to the group.

Lulu pressed against the brick wall she was in front of and just barely craned her neck to see if the man was still there. Just her luck, the mob member was standing a few feet down the alley scanning the area. He glanced his eyes around to determine which was the best route of travel. Making his decision, the man continued his walk and made his way further down the dark alley.

Gripping her gun tight and with growing determination inside her, Lulu silently made her way around the corner and narrowed her eyes in on her target.

The man stopped at the end of the alley and again stopped to scan which direction of travel was his safest bet. Unknown to him, the 00 agent was right on his tail and just barely a few feet away from him.

With her eyes darkened and fire brimmed inside them, Lulu lifted her gun as high as she could and slammed it down on the back of the man's head, sending him to the ground unconscious with an 'oompf'.

Lulu stood over the man's body, staring down at him coldly, then put her gun away once certain that he was not going anywhere. She was soon met by Felix and Walmer.

"Are you alright, 008?" Felix asked, catching his breath.

"I'm fine…I'm not sure about him, though," Lulu said, never taking her eyes off the unconscious man.

The CIA agent had his gun ready for aim, then knelt down to check the man's condition. He pressed two fingers down on the mobster's neck to feel for a pulse and waited for a few seconds. He found none and turned his head back to the young girl.

"He's dead," Felix said.

"How?" Lulu asked, confused how her one blow to the head managed to kill the man.

Felix turned the man over on his backside and saw a stain of blood coming from the suspect's chest. The sudden movement caused something to fall out of the man's jacket and landed on the ground with a 'thud'.

Her own mind starting to grow with curiosity, Lulu knelt down beside the American spy and picked up the dark object lying next to the dead man. It was a gun.

"Uncle Felix," she said, staring at the weapon in her hands.

Felix turned his head, spotted the gun in Lulu's hands, then took it in his own. It felt warm on the nose of the weapon. He then flipped it to point at him, brought the weapon to his nostrils, and sniffed it.

"This gun's been fired. And there's a silencer on it." He determined.

"That explains why there was no noise heard, when it went off." Lulu replied.

"Who is he, though?" Walmer asked, curious.

The 00 agent dug into the pants pockets of the man's suit, grabbed out a wallet, and opened it up. She scanned it briefly before coming across a card that stuck out to her and pulled it out to further examine.

"His name's Moretti…henchmen of Don Antony Genovese," she read.

"One of Lobster's men," Felix stated.

"He must have sent one of his guys out to track us down and figure out where it is we're currently staying in Shanghai."

"Well, he's dead now. He won't be reporting anything back to his superior anytime soon."

Lulu sighed sadly and shook her head.

"I'm _never_ gonna find Papa's killer at this rate," she said, soft.

"Your father will get his justice, believe me. I won't quit breathing until Lobster's found and dispatched." Felix responded, rubbing the young girl's back gently.

"Your father," Walmer said, surprised.

"James…James was his name…he was out on an assignment when…" Lulu could not finish. She would not break down and cry in public. Not in front of the man that was aiding them in finding Lobster. She was a 00 agent, and 00 agents did not cry on duty. They were tough, thick skinned, brave, and did not back down to danger. They fought until the very end, and she knew her father had been all of those things and more. Remembering whose daughter she was and who it was she was fighting for, Lulu let out a deep, shaky breath and gave a firm nod. She locked her emotions away for the moment and soon came back to her calm, rational self. She had an assignment to finish, and she was more than obstinate to finish that assignment.

Sensing her tension, Walmer frowned with empathy.

"I'm sorry, Miss Lulu. I'm sure he was a good man," he said, sincere.

" _More_ than a good man. It's why this mission means much more than any other that came before it." Felix replied, firm.

"But how do we find someone when all we have is two dead men of his?" Walmer questioned.

"We certainly know that he's nearby. He's gotta be hiding somewhere in these parts. This is the second night we've been followed by one of these guys."

"Where do you think they're all coming from?" Lulu asked.

"Again, I'd love to know that answer myself. They're close by, though. The longer Lobster's men are roaming around freely, the worse it's gonna be for China and its people," Felix said, stuffing the ID inside his jacket pocket.

"What do we do with him, though?" Walmer asked.

"Help me get him into that dumpster back in the alley. Lulu, you better come with us. You're probably in more danger than the rest of us."

"Yes, Uncle Felix."

Both men heaved Moretti's body off from the ground, and Lulu followed them back into the alley. They headed towards the huge dumpster that sat along a brick building wall on the left. Felix and Walmer threw Moretti inside, wiped their hands off on the side of their pants, then escorted the young 00 agent back to the businessman's hotel.

As they headed back through the streets of Nanjing, a man appeared from behind a store and watched the trio leave the scene. He had been watching them the entire time and glared particularly at Lulu. It was Colombo.

"I _knew_ she looked familiar to me. I could see it right in her eyes." He hissed.

Without another word or thought, the man disappeared back into the shadows of night and made his way back to headquarters. An insidious grin grew on his face, as he began to think of the unforeseen report he would bring back to his boss.


	13. Chapter 13: The Nightmare Lives On

**Chapter 13: The Nightmare Lives On:**

Once Lulu, Felix, and Walmer returned back to the hotel, Arnie met them down in the lobby and took them back to the room for debriefing and collaborating. The four gathered around the table in the main room and reported their findings to one another.

"Are you guys alright? I saw a man in dark clothing that Lulu went chasing after," Arnie said, somewhat shook up about the event.

"We're alright, Arnie. No one got hurt…just a little spooky is all." Lulu answered.

"What did you observe from the balcony, son?" Felix asked.

The boy pulled out his notebook and pen, flipped open to the page he had been keeping notes on, and put it down on the table for everyone to see.

"So, I started taking watch when some black figure appeared from the alley in between the Shanghai Silk Commercial Mall and the Shanghai Bank." He began.

"Shanghai Bank, that's northeast of here." Felix answered.

"Correct, Mr. Leiter. He started making his way down to Fengzelou and then finally encounter the three of you in between the Hongxiang Building and the family convenience store. That's when I saw Lulu make a run down the alley, and you and Mr. Walmer were headed back in this direction and ran around to the other side of Xinghualou."

"Did you happen to see anyone else with him, Arnie? Someone that looked odd or suspicious?"

"I only saw the one guy, Mr. Leiter. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Felix turned his attention to all of them. "I'm gonna make a safe bet and assume that Lobster's headquarters are in the direction of northeast from this hotel. If that's the direction Moretti was coming from, it must mean he came from a nearby location in the general area."

"Moretti, Sir?"

"That was the name of the guy you saw. Lulu managed to knock him out with a blow to the back of his head, but died instantly when his gun went off and shot him in the chest."

"I didn't hear any gunfire, though."

"There was a silencer on it. The three of us weren't sure how he died at first, either. We knew Lulu's blow was not anywhere _near_ fatal to kill someone so quickly."

"Did anyone else see you guys?"

"No…that's why we were hoping you saw something," the 00 agent said.

"Where do we go from here, Captain?" Walmer asked, looking at Felix.

"First, we need a better place of location to narrow our search area in more. Moretti may have come from a nearby location, but we don't have enough time to go scavenging through every entire building here in Nanjing. He could be _anywhere_ in the area. There are many places for someone like him to hideout in," the CIA agent said.

"Once we have that, we can start looking for Lobster and put a stop to his plans for total dictatorship," Arnie said.

"Exactly." Felix turned to look to Lulu on his right, who was frowning and seemed to not be listening. "008, you hear that?"

Lulu turned her head slowly towards Felix and sighed.

"Sorry, Uncle Felix…I just have something on my mind, is all," she said, keeping to herself. She was growing sick of burdening everyone with her own personal issues. Lobster had to be found and stopped, and her internal emotions affecting her was not going to accomplish that task.

"You wanna talk about it?" Arnie asked, genuine.

Lulu shook her head.

"No…I'm alright…it's not gonna help us find Lobster even in the slightest bit, so it might as well be avoided in discussion entirely," she said.

"We can't do this mission, if you're psychologically disturbed, _either_ ," Felix said, slightly rough.

Lulu took in a deep breath, looked at the three men, and held her tongue. She had to keep telling herself that a 00 agent was not allowed to convey their emotions on the job and was beginning to realize just how hard that part of the job was to do. She had no idea how her father managed to had done so for so many years. She felt it were near impossible to do.

The CIA agent let out a breath of frustration, then turned to Walmer.

"Arnold, I'd like to speak with you in the other room. I have some personal questions I'd like to ask of you." He spoke.

"Yes, Sir," the businessman said, then disappeared into the bedroom following Felix from behind.

Once the adults were out of the room, Arnie turned his eyes back to Lulu and looked at her with concern.

"Alright, Lu. We're alone; now, tell me what's going on with you. You've been acting strange since coming back here from tonight." He ordered friendly.

"I said I'm alright, Arnie. I'm just tired…it's been a long day," Lulu said, not giving in. She looked down at the table top and refused to look at her best friend in the eyes.

"Come on, kiddo. I'm not an adult, and I'm not a spy working for the CIA or a professional businessman. You can tell me anything, that's what a best friend's for."

"I said I'm fine." Lulu raised from the table, made her way to the hotel window, and looked out into the night of Shanghai. She was hoping it would make her friend drop the whole thing.

"You sure don't seem fine. In fact, you seem the complete opposite of it."

"I told you I have a lot on my mind. I don't wanna talk about it."

"Why not?"

"It'll interfere with our mission. I promised M I'd find this creep and get rid of him."

"There's more to it than that…I know that for a fact, Lu. I can see it in your eyes."

Lulu did not answer. She remained silently staring out into the darkness.

"Damn it, Lulu, being quiet like this s'not gonna help us any in this assignment, so start talking!" Arnie demanded, beginning to grow frustrated.

"No!"

"Why are you being so damn stubborn?!"

"Cause Papa would be ashamed of me otherwise, Arnie!" Lulu spat, snapping her head facing him. Her eyes were burning with tears, and her face was a dark shade of pink.

Her best friend fell silent, not knowing what or even if to respond at all.

"I'm tired, I'm scared, I wanna go home to my bed and Lorraine and London! I don't _wanna_ be here in Shanghai tracking down this psycho crazed serial killer, I don't wanna be a thick skinned secret spy, and I _don't_ wanna be a 00 agent like M now has me! I wanna be home, sitting on my couch writing a story with Papa sitting next to me reading, or listening to him sing while dancing with me in the living room! I miss my room, my home, school, homework, I miss Papa! I wish _he_ were finishing this assignment, not me! He'd be _ashamed_ if he knew I was doing nothing but cry and sob in my line of duty! I wanna hug him and talk to him and see him again and tell me everything's alright, and I can't have him anymore! I'm alone. I have nobody. I've wanted to do nothing but cry and scream and shout since boarding that damn airplane three nights ago! Out of all the people on this damned earth, why did God take my Papa away from me, Arnie, why?!" She yelled. At that point, hot tears were streaming down her face and burning her eyes. "I want my Papa…I want Papa back, _please_ , God, give him back to me!"

Lulu collapsed onto the couch and began uncontrollably sobbing. She could not fight all her bottled up emotions inside her anymore. They had pushed her far beyond her limit and could not hold them back any longer. She was not a 00 agent. Not anywhere near one. She was not the things her father had been: courageous, tough, cunning, independent, strong spirited. She was nothing more than a little 16 year old girl who dealt with shyness and her insecurities. She was not brave or tough. She was not independent, and the only strong spirited thing about her was her avant-garde level of intelligence. She was a meek, mild, sensitive, and well behaved girl who firmly loved those she was most close to. Her father had been her best friend in the world, and was now lost on how to live in a world without him there. In fact, she just felt like lying down and never get up again.

Arnie's heart broke, as he stood there and watched his best friend slowly die mentally. He felt as if he we watching the life be sucked right out of Lulu and had no idea how to stop it. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to bring out a book of spells and make all of Lulu's emotional loss vanish into thin air. To bring James back to life and able to hug his little girl again, telling her that everything in the end would be okay. That she was strong enough to get through this and conquer every fear and obstacle placed in her path. He had no idea his best friend had been holding back all this emotional hell and locking it away in order to move on with her life and to try and forget what had been taken away from her… _who_ had been taken away from her.

Not knowing what else to do, Arnie walked over to the couch, sat down beside Lulu, and took her in his arms. He held his best friend close to him and hushed her softly, trying to give her as much comfort he possibly could. He felt Lulu bury her face into his shoulder, wrap her arms tight around him, and continued to cry violently.

"It's gonna be alright, Lu…I promise. Just hang in there for a little longer, bud," he said, soft. Arnie rocked her slightly and rubbed her back gently to try and calm her. His only response was continuous crying. He leaned his head against hers, closed his eyes, and continued to hush her and promise her that everything would be alright again soon.

Sensing someone had entered the room, Arnie looked up towards the entrance of the other room and saw both Felix and Walmer standing there with sympathy and hurt inside their eyes. Watching their sweet, innocent little Lulu suffer from so much pain was enough to kill all of them. She did not deserve it, and she was certainly too young to experience such a loss. A child did not deserve to lose their mother or father… _both_ in Lulu's case.

The young boy sighed sadly, not knowing what else to do. He wanted to make everything better for his best friend, but knew he could do nothing more to help her besides sit with her and let her mourn.

Felix's eyes had growing flames within them, both filled with determination to finish this assignment for the honor and memory of his friend, James…for Lulu, most of all.

"Don't worry, hon…I promise that bastard will suffer under the most severe punishment possible for what he did to you. I won't rest until I know that man will never hurt anyone ever again," Felix said, sincere.

Lulu began to calm down in her crying and lifted her head to look at the American. She sniffled, then lay her head back on Arnie's shoulder, never wanting to let go of her best friend.

Felix snapped his head to Walmer.

"You know of any abandoned places in the northeast area of here?" He asked, sounding more like a demand.

"A couple. I have a few ideas where Lobster might be hiding out, too. They're not abandoned places, though." The African American answered.

"That's better than nothing. Go grab a sheet of notebook paper and pen, then meet me at the table." Felix turned to look at the two children. "Arnie, sit with Lulu and give her some company. See if you can't get her to fall asleep and rest for the night."

"Yes, Sir," the boy said, and continued to comfort the young 00 agent.

Felix and Walmer sat down at the table with paper and maps, and Arnie held Lulu in his arms while she did her grieving. She grew steadily quiet and soon enough fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure?" Lobster asked, pacing back and forth across a barren recreation center in a basement. There was a place to sit and watch TV, a pool table, a ping pong table, and another sitting area not too far off from that. The floor was carpeted blue and purple and there were several doors that lead to other parts of the ground floor, holding cells, and the mob leader's laboratory.

"Dead as a doornail, Don. A bullet to the chest and a bash in the back of the head. I suspect 008 had something to do with it." Mazzanti reported, standing against one of the sofas and watching his mob leader walk back and forth. He had just gotten back from searching for Moretti and finding out what was taking the man so long to come back from his assignment. Unfortunately, his search had lead him to a city dumpster in the middle of an alley and finding his fellow Family member's body murdered.

"I'm getting real sick of this 008 interfering with my work. If she figures out where my headquarters are, we'll be in more trouble than we already are," Lobster said, grinding his teeth. The young spy was a threat to his planned murder of Chairman Mao and intended on accomplishing his task and taking over the country of China. He would not let another 00 agent get in the way of his success and was ready to order just about anything that would get rid of the young girl for eternity.

"She's not alone, Don. There's three other guys aiding her in finding us. One's a businessman that was friends with 990."

"And who are the other two?"

" _Non lo so_. I suspect the one man to be another spy sent to help 008. The last one is just a teenager. He serves the least of a threat at the moment."

"I want _all_ of them dead eventually. Right now, 008 and that businessman are who I'm worried about."

"And how do you suppose we get rid of 'em?"

Lobster continued pacing, as his brain started to turn. He was beginning to think of his death sentence for the two, when Colombo walked in and interrupted his thoughts.

"Don, I gotta talk to yah," he said, stopping on Mazzanti's right.

"In a minute, I'm thinking," Lobster said.

"But what I've gotta say is important."

"Not now, Colombo. I'm busy dealing with 008."

He turned his back to his two consiglieres and started heading to the other side of the room, when what the man had to say next nearly made his heart stop.

"But, Sir, it's _about_ 008! Her father's 007!"

After the initial shock wore off, Lobster slowly turned his head back towards the two men and glared at them.

"What did you just say?" He asked, like he was about to lose it.

"008, Don. Her father was 007. I heard her talking to two other guys earlier tonight in the same area they killed Moretti. Said her father was James Bond and that he had been killed on an assignment not too long ago."

Lobster pursed his lips, stuffed his hands in his pants pockets, and began to wander around the area.

"So…Mr. Bond had a daughter, uh?" He began.

"Yes, Sir. Lulu, Lulu Bond." Colombo continued.

"Well…this certainly puts a turn on things, now doesn't it."

"What do you want us to do, Don?" Mazzanti asked.

"I want 008 and that businessman brought here to me. Do whatever you wish with the man. Kill him however suits you two, but I want 008 alive! Lock her in one of the holding cells, and I'll decide what to do with her later." Lobster replied.

"When do you want us to do it?" Colombo asked.

"As soon as possible. Follow them without getting noticed and grab 'em when you find an opportunity. Got it?" The mob boss ordered.

"Yes, Don," both men said, in unison.

Lobster shook his head, a snarl growing onto his face. Flames of fire were flickering in his dark eyes.

"Miss Bond…you should have never touched your father's work."


	14. Chapter 14: Quite The Catch

**Chapter 14: Quite The Catch:**

Morning came, and both Lulu and Arnie fell asleep on the couch. Lulu had her head on Arnie's shoulder, and the boy had his head on the young agent's.

Felix and Walmer came out from the other room, saw both kids sleeping, and hesitated to wake them. It was around 12:30 when Lulu finally went to sleep, and Arnie had stayed up for another hour or two making sure his best friend was resting comfortably. He finally crashed around 2:00AM.

It was about 9:00AM, and the CIA agent wanted to return to their hotel quick to change into clean clothes before starting their next day in Shanghai. Seeing both teens sound asleep, however, made his task much more difficult than need be. He turned his head towards Walmer, hoping he had an idea.

The businessman nodded gently.

"They'll be alright," he said, soft.

Felix sighed, then silently made his way over to the couch. He bent over slightly and shook Arnie and Lulu lightly by the shoulder.

"Time to wake up, guys. Another day in Shanghai awaits us," the American said, in a hushed tone.

Both kids fluttered their eyes open and looked at Felix somewhat disoriented.

"What time is it?" Arnie asked, stretching out his arms.

"A little past 9AM," Felix said.

"Where's Walmer?" Lulu asked, yawning.

"Right here, sweetheart," the businessman said friendly.

"You feeling any better from last night, Little Lu?" The CIA agent questioned.

The young spy nodded faintly, trying her best to wake up.

"I'm alright…just sleepy," she said.

Felix rubbed her arm gently, then gave her a kiss on the top of her forehead.

"We better start heading out. I want to change into some clean clothes before starting day four here," he said.

"Has it really been four days already?" Arnie asked, somewhat surprised.

"Time moves quickly in this field of work, son."

"It must. School doesn't even go by this fast."

Lulu gave a tired smile.

"We'll be ready in a minute, Uncle Felix," she said.

"Take your time. No where urgent we need to be at the moment." The American answered, with a small grin.

He patted Lulu's shoulder, then made his way over to the table to sit down and drink some coffee. Walmer walked towards the table and joined the CIA agent with his own drink.

Arnie turned to his best friend and rubbed her back.

"You feeling alright?" He asked, worried.

"I'm alright, Arnie…I actually feel better after letting all of that out last night," Lulu said, sincere.

"I'm just glad you're feeling better."

The young Bond smiled, then the two of them slowly got to their feet and made their way towards the two adults.

"What's on today's agenda, Sir?" Arnie asked, ready to tackle the day.

"At the moment, relax, go back to our hotel, and change into some nice clothes. I want us to all look nice for tonight." Felix answered, taking a drink of coffee.

"What's tonight?" Lulu asked, curious.

"We're going to another nightclub. Walmer says there's someone there that might have an idea where Lobster's hiding out around here."

"You guys have any guesses where he might be?"

"Not at the moment, but we're trying to narrow in our search area. Arnold and I were up until about 2:30 this morning trying to make our investigation area smaller in size."

"When do you think he plans on…you know…doing away with Chairman Mao?" Arnie asked.

"As soon as he knows 008 is out of the way. That's why it's important we keep Lulu's real identity as hidden as possible. Lobster found out she was the daughter of 007, it could put her in grave danger," Felix said.

"Why does Lobster have such a strong hate towards Mr. Bond? What did he do that was so bad?"

Felix turned his eyes to Lulu.

The girl turned to face her best friend, took in a breath of air, then exhaled.

"About 15 years ago, Papa was ordered by his boss, M, to travel to Brazil and stop Lobster's father, Salvatore Genovese, of his illegal drug trafficking. Many people were falling ill and some cases dying from such dangerous drugs being consumed by the public. He was hoping to make enough money to start a Mafia family and have a syndicate of men following him. Papa and Uncle Felix traveled down to Vila Velha to track him down and have him stopped, and he tried to kill Papa with a near fatal drug. Had it not been for Uncle Felix hiding out nearby, he would have died within hours." Lulu began.

"And your father and Mr. Leiter were able to stop him," Arnie said.

"Yes, but there's more. It wasn't just stopping Lobster's father that made him loathe my father. The hospital said it would be about three to four weeks before Papa was well enough to be released. Knowing him, however, he escaped out of the hospital on his sixth night being admitted. He disguised himself as a doctor, then made it back quickly to Genovese's headquarters to finish his assignment. Genovese had a pool filled with poisonous chlorine in it and planned on killing Papa by throwing him in it once he got out of the hospital. My father snuck in on him and fought one another for awhile before Lobster's father made an attempt to escape into the ceiling vent by climbing up a ladder."

"James fired his gun and shot Genovese in the back of his shoulder. The man let go of the ladder and fell into the poisonous pool. The poisonous chlorine killed him shortly before he drowned." Felix finished.

"And Lobster's wanted revenge on him ever since," Arnie stated.

"Correct."

"Whoa…talk about holding a grudge."

Lulu smirked and fought back from giggling.

The CIA agent smiled at both of them.

"Alright, you two. Let's get back to our hotel and change our outfits. Tonight, we begin our Lobster fishing," he said, with a mischievous grin.

* * *

Felix, Lulu, and Arnie got a cab back to their hotel and changed their clothes for the day. Lulu had on a blue dress with a white t-shirt underneath it, socks, and her black flats. Arnie wore a nice black suit and tie, and Felix wore a dark blue suit and black tie. The three met back up with Walmer at a cafe nearby their hotel afterwards, and the four of them did some sightseeing for the rest of the day.

Once night fell, the four of them called a cab to pick them up from the CIA agent's hotel and arrived to a nightclub in downtown Shanghai not too far from where they had been the previous night. This nightclub was bigger in size, two stories high, and appeared to look more like a business building than a club. It had nice glass windows, colorful lights on the sides of the building, and had a lit up sign with Chinese writing none of them could read.

Like last time, Arnie and Lulu had no problem getting past security with their fake ID's. The group of four made their way through the lobby and entered into a room that looked like a giant gymnasium. There was a huge bar table on one side of the room, had many colored lights spinning around the room, was dimly lit, and there was a stage near the back of the room where a disc jockey sat and was responsible for the music being played. Due to Chairman Mao's Political Revolution, most of the songs played were Chinese or foreign in place of the law banning Western music in the country.

"Whoa…" Lulu gasped.

"This is bigger than the first one," Arnie said, taking in the sight. It baffled him to see how big of a nightclub it was. He never thought one of such size even existed.

"How do you find _anybody_ in here?"

Felix gestured them to the bar and got them each a glass of root beer. For the two adults, Walmer ordered a drink of Tsingtao beer, and the CIA agent got a blue margarita.

At the end of the bar table, the man that had been spying on the group for the past four nights was leaning against the side with a drink of vodka. He took a drink while constantly keeping his eyes on the four, once again on Lulu particularly. He remained hidden in the shadows and continued to observe the area and the small pod. He wanted to give a full report back to his superior and have as much detail he could have possible.

"Watch my drink, guys. I need to go use the restroom real quick," Walmer said. He placed his beer on the counter and made his way out of the area into the hall.

Felix watched the man leave, took another drink, then his eyes spotted a group of four girls dancing in the middle of the room. They turned to him and smiled, all of them finding him rather attractive.

It took all the American's efforts to keep from blushing. He gave a mysterious smile, then turned to look at Walmer, Arnie, and Lulu.

"Excuse me…I have some, uh, business to take care of. I'll be back in five minutes," Felix said, putting his drink down on the counter. He brushed down his suit and made his way to the group of girls, leaving the two teenagers by themselves. One was a gorgeous blonde, two were young Chinese women, and the fourth was a pretty brunette. All of them welcomed Felix with open arms, and the five of them danced and socialized with one another.

Lulu and Arnie could not help but smile and laugh softly, watching the CIA agent on the dance floor. The young Bond rarely saw Felix dance, but he was decent at it and seemed to do it naturally. She never imagined a man working for the United States CIA dancing in a nightclub.

"What do you think of this place?" Lulu asked.

"It's certainly…is 'groovy' the word?" Arnie remarked, unsure of the proper usage for the word.

The 00 agent giggled.

"Stay in school, my friend," she answered, her face lighting up.

The boy smiled, took another sip of his drink, then spotted two Chinese girls no more than 20 years of age. They were both the most gorgeous sight he had ever seen in his life. One had long black hair, tan skin, and was wearing a bright red cheongsam with silver lines forming an intricate design. The other girl was a bit shorter, wore her hair up in a bun, and was wearing a green cheongsam with gold lines.

Arnie could barely move, wanting to go up to them and socialize. When they noticed him and smiled at him, he turned to Lulu, his eyes pleading for a few minutes with them. He almost jumped for joy, when he saw his best friend give him a small grin.

"Go on; I'll be alright for a few minutes," she said, her blue eyes twinkling. They seemed to have a bit of life back in them, and it made her best friend beam like the sun knowing that she was coming back to life slowly.

"Miss Bond, you rock!" Arnie spoke, holding back his excitement as much as possible. He turned around to face the two girls, took in a deep breath to calm himself, then professionally made his way over to them.

Lulu laughed, as she watched her best friend interact with the two girls. She had to admit; they were very pretty. They looked polished and like they came from good family backgrounds. Pretty soon, the three were laughing, talking, and dancing with one another.

Lulu gave a soft sigh, took another drink of her root beer, when she noticed something off to her in the corner of her eye. She put her drink down on the counter-top and turned her head slowly to the left. She saw the man in dark clothing and black hat covering his eyes and beginning part of his nose. He seemed to be watching her from what she could see.

Growing suspicious, she lowered her left hand to her side, ready to grab her gun at any moment, and began to approach the man. His initial reaction was putting down his vodka and running out of the area as fast as he could, only making Lulu run faster after him. She quickly stopped in the hallway and watched him make a run for the front door.

"Hey!" She cried. "I wanna talk to you!"

Lulu resumed her running and followed the man outside.

"Get back here! Who are you?!"

She ran a little down the sidewalk after the mysterious figure and soon lost track of him, his clothing helping him blend in with the night.

Lulu sighed, trying to think of who the man might have been. Had it been one of Lobster's men? Was someone stalking her since coming to Shanghai? Or had M sent a bodyguard to drop in on them to see what they were doing once and awhile? Her mind was racing with questions and was frustrated that she could answer so little of them.

Watching her from not too far behind was Mazzanti and Colombo, hiding in the shadows of an alley in between the club and a restaurant. They started making their way silently towards her after seeing her run out of the building chasing the man she had seen earlier. Neither of them knew who he was, but he had just made their assignment much easier than originally planned out.

Lulu continued standing there, trying to figure out where the man might have gone or a clue he left that helped her have a little more knowledge on who he was and what he wanted with her. Sadly, nothing was coming to her mind and gave another sigh. She started to make a turn back to the club, when Colombo took the front of his gun and smashed it on the back of her head. She gave an 'ooff', then collapsed to the sidewalk unconscious.

Back inside the club lobby, Walmer left the men's restroom and heard a loud 'thud' come from outside. He looked at the main door, his mind growing with curiosity and worry.

"Miss Lulu?" He called.

No response came.

He made his way quickly outside and looked around the area for the young agent. She was no where to be seen.

"Miss Lulu?…Miss Lulu! Are you out here?" He called out again.

Nothing.

He turned on his left and began walking down the sidewalk, his eyes and ears open for anything that would help him find the girl. What his ears and eyes did not spot were the two Mafia men coming out from a dark alley from behind him.

Mazzanti and Colombo walked silently from the back, waiting for the right time to strike at the businessman. After following the man for a few more minutes, Walmer finally stopped and again made a look around the area, hoping he would spot Lulu somewhere.

Lobster's men slowly crept up from the rear, Mazzanti holding a dark washcloth and Colombo's hands ready to grab a vice lock hold on their victim. They waited for three seconds, then attacked. Covering his nose and mouth, Mazzanti pressed down firmly on the washcloth to starve Walmer of oxygen. Colombo made sure his hold on the businessman was tight enough that any escape attempt would be a fail.

Walmer gave muffled screams for help, but no one heard him. He was beginning to run low on air, but fought to keep awake. He needed to find Lulu and warn her of these men. His vision starting to darken, the loss of oxygen became too great on his organs and finally closed his eyes.

Colombo and Mazzanti caught him from collapsing to the ground, then dragged him off into the dark alley away from the night life. Once he had been lain, Mazzanti picked up Lulu from the ground in his arms, and the two mob members hurried off to their car to make their way back to headquarters.

Once they had drove off, the man who had been spying before turned the keys in his ignition and followed the two Mafia men not too far from the back. He turned his headlights off and used the video camera screen inside his car to see where the road and turns were.

* * *

Arnie came back to the bar with two new phone numbers in his pocket address book and a wide grin on his face. After great conversation, lots of laughs, and several dances, both girls had fallen flat over heels for him and the digits were exchanged. He learned the two girls' names to be Yanmei and Jinjing. Both were daughters of chairman serving under Chairman Mao's command. Their families were both fairly wealthy and held high positions in China's society. He felt lucky to have met such lovely, high society level girls.

He returned to the bar, having lots to share with his best friend, and was confused to not find her where she had last been.

"Lulu?" He called.

No answer.

"Lulu."

Nothing.

"Lulu!"

By the third response of silence, he began to grow worried.

"Where could she have gone?" He asked himself.

Arnie abandoned the bar counter and made his way onto the dance floor, hoping he would find his best friend dancing with the large group of people somewhere.

"Lulu!…Lulu!" He shouted over the music. "Where are you, Lu?!"

Getting stuck in a mob of people, Arnie danced his way through the crowd all while scanning out for one particular girl. His anxiety began to grow higher the longer he spent looking for her. By the time he had made his way to the other side, he knew something was wrong. Lulu never left the area without letting someone else know. And if she did leave without word, she would have been back long by now. Something was wrong… _very_ wrong.

His emotions grabbing hold of him, Arnie began to breathe uneasy and started making a run for it, desperate in search for Felix or Walmer.

"Mr. Leiter! Mr. Leiter! Help! Mr. Leiter!" He shouted. He made a frantic search for the American and was somewhat relieved to find him back at the bar with about six or seven girls surrounding him. All of them were running their fingers through his hair, playing with his tie, or feeling his arms.

Arnie ran faster than he had ever done towards the CIA agent, his eyes wide in fear.

"Mr. Leiter! Help! Lulu's gone!" He yelled.

Hearing someone screaming at him, Felix turned his attention to the front of him, saw the young boy's facial expression, and quickly made his way towards him, gently shoving the girls off of him.

"Arnie, what is it? Where's Lulu?" He asked, both concerned and slightly irritated with the interruption.

"Lulu…she's gone. I can't find her anywhere! I don't know where she is."

"You've checked this entire place."

"Yes, Sir. Something's wrong. I've gotta find her, Mr. Leiter!"

The CIA agent yanked out his gun from underneath his jacket, and both men hurried out of the club and into the streets of Shanghai.

"Wait. Where's Walmer?" Felix asked, turning to Arnie.

"I don't know, Sir. I can't find him, either."

Felix let out a short, stressed sigh.

"I don't like this," he said.

"Where could've they gone?"

"Hopefully, not too far. If they took off by walking, they're nearby somewhere."

Arnie turned his head in front of them, then spotted something on the sidewalk that caught his attention.

"Mr. Leiter," he said. "Look over there."

The American looked in the same direction the teenager was and became puzzled seeing the same thing himself. He looked back at Arnie, grabbed out a spare gun from his jacket, and handed it to the boy.

"Cover for me. It might be a trap," he ordered.

"Yes, Sir."

The duo slowly and cautiously made their way over to their destination, then Felix knelt down on the ground to examine his findings. It was a few drops of blood stained in the sidewalk.

"You don't think that's…" Arnie could not finish his thought. The idea of it was too chilling.

"It might be. It might not be, though."

Arnie turned his head to the left slightly and spotted something sparkling on the ground. His gun ready in aim, he took a few steps towards the object, knelt down on the ground, and picked it up in his hands. His face instantaneously fell pale and swallowed a huge knot down his throat.

"Mr. Leiter…you better come here," he barely spoke.

Felix got to his feet, walked over to the teen, and grabbed the object out of Arnie's hands. It was a silver necklace chain with a diamond shape heart in the center hanging from it.

"That's Lulu's necklace…she wore it tonight in the club," Arnie said, trying to remain calm.

The CIA agent gulped a lump down his throat, his insides beginning to panic.

"Oh no," he said.

"What?…What's wrong?"

"Dr. Lobster…he's got her."


	15. Chapter 15: Unexpected Meetings

**Chapter 15: Unexpected Meetings:**

Young Lulu slowly opened her eyes to the back of her head aching and an unfamiliar surrounding. She looked around the room to try and see if she could determine where she currently was.

A small and dark room with only a tiny light bulb on the ceiling lighting the entire area. There was no furniture; only dark tile flooring and cold, dark gray brick walls. In front of her was a black door with a tiny window with metal bars inside it. There were no windows that lead outside of wherever she was. Whether it was day or night out was beyond her knowledge.

She was sitting on the ground, and her arms stretched out slightly and feeling sore against the wall. Lulu groaned softly, then tried to get up, when she was yanked back down to the ground with a rattling noise. Confused, she turned to look at her arms and swallowed her growing fear down. Her wrists had metal chains strapped around them and attached to the wall. She looked down at her feet to see her ankles were in the same boat.

Lulu tried pulling away and yanking off her chains, but simply did not have enough body strength to pull it off. The only thing she got was the clanging and rattling of metal. By the sixth attempt, she stopped and tried to calm her breathing. She was disoriented, frazzled, and frightened most of all. Where was she? How had she gotten there? Where was Felix and Arnie? Were they alright? What happened to Walmer?

She closed her eyes and began to tell herself to calm down, when the door to her cell opened. Two men in mob uniforms she had never seen before made their way inside and locked the door behind them. One was slightly taller than the other one, about 6'0". He had dark brown hair and demonic looking brown eyes to match. He looked like someone people would not want to mess around with. Like he was the devil himself walking around freely in society.

The other man was about 5'10", had jet black hair, and brown eyes. He did not look any friendlier than the first man did. Both men were wearing black suits and ties, Italian leather shoes, and black fedoras. Each of them had their own Colt M1911A1 and had them pointed right at her.

Locking her fear away as much as possible, Lulu glared at both men, not giving them any satisfaction of crying, screaming, or trembling. Her body slightly shivered and shook, but kept her mind focused only on the two men before her and watching their every move.

"Who are you?" She ordered.

"Name's Mazzanti. My partner here is Colombo," the tall man answered, his eyes glowering at the small girl. He spoke with a thick Italian accent.

"Where am I? How'd I get here?"

"None of that information is important for you to know. And don't try and fool us with any of your acts of innocence."

"I don't know what you mean. My name's Lucy Cardwell…I'm just visiting from the United States."

Mazzanti gave a soft, unnerving chuckle, and took a few steps closer to his prisoner.

"Then was does your gun over there have engraved 'Property of 008'?" He hissed.

Lulu did not answer. Her only response was glaring right back at the Italian with the same look he had.

"We know who you are, kid. You'll find cooperating with us easier than otherwise." Colombo chimed in. He too, had a strong Italian accent.

"Where am I? What do you want?" Lulu snapped, anger building inside her.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"I demand to speak to who you're working for!"

"In good time, you will." Mazzanti answered.

"And I still wanna know where I am!" The young agent insisted.

The two mob members made their way to the door, opened it, then both turned to look at their prisoner one last time. It was Mazzanti who gave a villainous chuckle.

"By the time you find out, you'll be too late," he said, sly, then closed the door behind them.

Lulu again fought against the chains and tried to free herself from her current predicament.

"Get back here!…I'm not done talking to you yet!" She cried.

There was nothing for a response besides the sound of a door closing down the hall from outside.

"Help! Help! Someone, help me!…Arnie! Walmer! Uncle Felix, help! Help me!…M, help me." The last part Lulu whimpered. She hung her head down, clenched her eyes shut to fight back from crying, and let out heavy, labored breaths to try and calm her down. "I gotta get out of here."

* * *

Felix and Arnie returned to their hotel around 1AM, neither of them able to sleep with Lulu and Walmer in Lobster's care. Arnie could hardly sit still on his bed, and Felix continuously paced back and forth across the room, his mind desperate to think of a location the mob leader might have taken the two. The CIA agent knew if he was not quick, both lives in search for would be lost. He knew for certain that Lobster would kill Lulu for being a 00 agent after him, but did not know about Walmer. He was sure that the Mafia leader would have him tortured or abused somehow for leaking his plans to Ying, but did not know how long it would be before he decided to kill the man along with Lulu. And if he was already dead, he prayed and hoped that Lulu was spared for now. He and Arnie would not stop searching Shanghai until Lulu was found and safe with them again.

"Where could she be, Mr. Leiter?" Arnie asked, dying to know where his best friend was.

"I couldn't tell you even if I _wanted_ to…in a city this big, she could be anywhere," Felix said, his mind racing with questions and possible 'what if' thoughts.

"How are we gonna find her, then?"

"I'm trying to figure that out right now."

The CIA agent was brought out of his thoughts, when there was a knock on the door. He snapped his head towards it, pulled out his gun, and silently made his way towards the entrance. He had his gun ready for aim, waited three seconds, then yanked the door open. Seeing it was just a hotel bellhop, Felix slid his gun back inside its holster underneath his jacket.

"Sir, what brings you up here this time of night?" The American asked.

"Are you Mr. Felix Leiter?" He questioned.

"Depends. What do you need?"

The bellhop handed over an envelope to the spy.

"A man came to the front desk and said to bring this telegram to you. Sounded urgent," he said.

Felix examined it briefly, then nodded.

"Thank you. Have a good night," the CIA agent said.

" _Wǎn'ān_ , Mr. Leiter."

Felix closed the door after the bellhop had walked back to the elevator and continued to stare at the envelop with suspicion. Who would have sent him a letter at this time of night? And why had that person been so urgent to get it to him as soon as possible. It had no return address and the only thing written on it was 'Leiter' in the center.

Arnie made his way over to the American and stared at the envelope himself, his mind curious what the content was within it.

"What do you think it is?" The boy asked.

Felix placed the envelope on the desk in their room, took out a small device from his jacket pocket, and began scanning over the letter. Taking in the reading and finding nothing off, he put his scanner away, took out a small pocket knife, and cautiously began to open the envelope. There was nothing more in there but a letter.

He put back his knife, grabbed the piece of paper out, and he read what the short message had to say:

 _I know where the girl is. Meet me tomorrow evening at 6:00 in Zhongshan Park. Come alone._

"What's it say, Sir?" Arnie asked.

"Someone knows where Lulu is. I'm supposed to meet them tomorrow night in Zhongshan Park at 6 alone."

"Alone? Doesn't that sound kind of eerie to you?"

"It does sound… _off_."

"Are you going?"

"I have to. What if it really _is_ someone who knows where Lulu was taken off to? I promised M and myself that I would protect that little girl with my life."

"She's gonna be alright, Mr. Leiter. She may be soft, but Lulu's strong. She'll hold out until we're able to locate her."

"I know she is. But by God, if something happens to her, I'm never gonna forgive myself."

"What do we do in the meantime?"

Felix thought to himself for a minute, then turned to face the teenager.

"You know how to use a compass?" He asked.

"Better than anyone I know."

"Good; you'll be able to use a radar easily, then."

"A radar, Mr. Leiter?"

"Lulu has a homing beacon on her. If she takes it, the radar MI6 gave me will be able to track down her location. There's just one problem."

"What would that be?"

"If she hasn't taken it, and it's still inside her purse, it can take hours, maybe days, before the radar picks up on it. It will be difficult for satellite to pick up due to interference of her purse's fabric."

"It's better than doing nothing, though. Maybe we'll be lucky."

"I sure hope you're right, kid. 'Cause right now, luck's all we got."

* * *

Throughout the day, Arnie spent hours watching for a radar signal to show up, while Felix went out to the nearby areas around the club they had been to last night, praying he would find a trace of where Lulu and/or Walmer had been taken off to.

It was around 5:30, when the CIA agent finally returned to the room carrying a newspaper on his right side. He found Arnie sitting at the desk still, his mind completely focused on looking for a signal showing anywhere.

"Anything so far?" Felix asked, approaching the teenager.

"Not a darn thing. I've been staring at this thing for hours, and nothing," Arnie said, giving a sigh of frustration.

"Well, we've got another problem," the spy said, tossing the newspaper to him.

Arnie looked at the front headline, and his mouth dropped from its hinges.

"My God!" He gasped. "That's Mr. Walmer, Sir!"

"I don't know Chinese, but I know what that headline says: 'California Businessman Found In Club Alley Unconscious and Transported To Nearby Hospital'."

"Is he alright?"

"I don't have any knowledge of that. I want you to go to Renji Hospital and find out what room Walmer's in. Find out what condition he's in and ask him questions if he knows anything regarding what happened last night. I'm headed for my meeting. It's a 15 minute drive from here, and it'll take at least seven minutes to call a cab."

"Yes, Sir. And be careful. I don't wanna have to be the one to search an entire city all by myself."

"You and I are in the same boat."

"Good luck, Mr. Leiter."

"You too, Arnie."

Felix grabbed his radar from the table and put it away after grabbing a handheld one from his briefcase. He closed it shut, put on his sunglasses, and sprinted downstairs to the front desk to call a cab.

All to himself, Arnie put on his black trench coat, grabbed a pen and notebook, then hurried down the hall to the elevator. He made his way inside, pushed the lobby floor button, and called a cab to head for Renji Hospital immediately.

* * *

Felix hurried through Zhongshan Park, searching for anyone looking suspicious or someone that appeared to be waiting for someone. He stopped at a park picnic area with a traditional Chinese styled roof and concealed by forest green metal bars and tubes for architectural design. In front of it were a few trees, two bushes, and a few plants and rocks that sat in the large patch of grass leading to the park pathway. There were lamp posts in the surrounding areas lighting the way for civilians taking a night stroll.

The American stood there and scanned the area for his contact, when he spotted a man in all dark clothing and a black fedora leaning against a lamp post. He seemed to be looking in the CIA agent's direction.

Felix cautiously made his way over, his hand inside his jacket hovering over his gun. When he got about 15 feet in front of the man, he grabbed his gun and yanked it out in the open. He had it aimed and ready at his target, when the figure spoke with a spooky, enigmatic voice.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you…I have my orders to shoot and kill if necessary. Anything to be able to report back to my contact. I cause no harm to you, if you do the same in return."

Felix lowered his gun slowly and put it back in its hidden holster. He swallowed and hesitated making a few steps closer to the man. He tried as hard as he could to identify the man or see his face. The only thing visible of his facial features were his mouth and beginning part of his nose. Everything else was hidden in a black shadow formed by his fedora.

"You are Mr. Leiter?" The man asked, sounding more like a demand.

The American barely nodded.

"Felix Leiter, CIA of the United States," he said, his voice showing no fear. "You say you know where the girl I was with last night is: Lulu."

"Indeed. She was knocked unconscious by two tall men in Mafia uniforms. One seemed to be more psychologically disturbed than the other one. Shortly after, a tall African American made his way out of a building and started searching for her. He was halfway down the street, when the same two men emerged again from a dark alley and attacked him. Whether they tried to suffocate him or knock him out with chloroform is beyond my knowledge."

"And you. Who are you working for? Are you sent here by Lobster?"

"I can not reveal that information to you. It could put my contact in grave danger if his identity were to be revealed. I can assure you, however, I am far from an ally of Dr. Lobster's. I want him stopped as much as you do, Mr. Leiter."

"How'd you know who to contact with your letter? How'd you know I'd be looking for a teenaged girl?"

"I have been ordered to observe you and the two children from afar since your arrival to Shanghai several nights ago. For what reasons, I am not allowed to disclose. I would be violating my contact's directions and in possible risk of his identification being exposed. When first put on my assignment, I was given physical descriptions of both you and the girl and briefed on who each of you were with the basics. You are Felix Leiter of the United States CIA. Brown hair, brown eyes, six feet tall, 184 pounds, born December 30, 1919, and live with your wife in Radford, Virginia. As for the girl, her name is Lulu Bond. 5'3", light brown hair, dark blue eyes, 107 pounds, born February 24, 1949, and lives in London, England. An orphan with a housekeeper by the name of Lorraine. And the boy traveling with you, all I know of him is what I have seen and heard. Name is Arnie, about 5'8", brown hair, blue eyes, wears glasses, and is friends with your Lulu. I believe he is from London as well."

"Who are you? Show yourself."

"My identity is not necessary information for you to know. I am only here to inform you of where your girl is being held hostage currently by Lobster and his henchmen."

"Where is she? Where's Lulu?"

"She is being held as prisoner at the Huasheng Building in Downtown Shanghai. I would suspect somewhere in the lower levels of the building is where Lobster, his men, and your girl are located. The layout of the building's basement is highly secluded and quiet during the night hours, when Lobster's men are most active. Perfect holding place for the girl until further notice."

"The Huasheng Building…that's about a 30 minute drive from here."

"I would advise you to get there quickly. Dr. Lobster will not wait long before he does away with her. She is a threat to his plans of assassinating Chairman Mao and corrupting China's government of its money."

"Take me there."

"I can not assist you with that. I must get back to my contact and make my report at once."

"Your contact. Who is he? I demand to know his identity!"

The man did not answer. He simply made his way into the darkness.

"Who are you? How do you know who I am? What association do you work for?" Felix ordered.

No answer came. The man quickly disappeared into the night and was not to be seen again.

The American spy stood there for a moment longer, staring off in the distance the agent had disappeared from sight. After trying to quickly think of who the man might have been, Felix sprinted out of the park as fast as possible and made his way out to the city streets.

"Taxi! Taxi! Taxi!" He yelled.

Eventually one caught notice of him and pulled over next to the sidewalk.

Felix opened the passenger side door and got inside immediately.

"Get me to the Huansheng Building on the double," he ordered, fear slightly heard in his voice.

"Yes, Sir," the cab driver said.

The American buckled his seatbelt, and the taxi man stepped on his gas pedal, driving as fast as the city nightlife allowed him to.


	16. Chapter 16: Escaping Imprisonment

**Chapter 16: Escaping Imprisonment:**

Arnie arrived at the hospital around 6:45PM and made his way inside the emergency room. He found the check-in desk and quickly approached the man sitting there.

"Excuse me, Sir. Do you know where I can find the main lobby?" He asked, trying to catch his breath.

"On the first floor, Mr…"

"Lawson, Arnie Lawson."

"Just take the elevator up to the first floor, and the check-in desk will be on your right."

"Thank you. Have a good night, Sir."

The check-in man gave no response, immediately consumed with his paperwork once again.

Arnie hurried to the nearest elevator to take upstairs to the main floor. It took about five minutes before the elevator made a beep noise, and the doors opened. He stepped inside and pushed the button with the number one on the side of it and watched the elevator doors slowly close.

On the ride up, Arnie heard Chinese music approved by the Red Guards playing over the PA system and swayed slightly to it. As much as he was against the Red Guards and the world known Cultural Revolution currently under the command of Chairman Mao Zedong, he had to admit it was a calm, pretty tune despite what the English translation of words being sung might mean.

As he thought the elevator had finally arrived to the next floor, the lights began to flicker before completely shutting off. The elevator started shaking violently, knocking Arnie off his feet and onto the floor. It eventually stopped and a few red emergency lights turned on, lighting the area so little. There was no movement, no noise, no lights.

"Oh, this can't be good," the teenager said, his eyes widening from growing anxiety and the sudden loss of lighting.

He got to his feet and tried pushing the button again with the number one next to it. Nothing happened. He tried pushing it a few more times, but was greeted with the same thing. The elevator would not move, and the button would not light up. He then tried pushing the 'open door' button to see if he could get out that way. Nothing. He repeated the same action about seven times before realizing he was stuck.

"Oh no." He gasped.

Arnie began to bang on the elevator doors and tried to pull them open. When he saw his efforts failing, he resumed banging on the doors again to make as much noise as possible to attract attention.

"Help! Help! Somebody out there, help! I'm trapped, get me out of here!" He exclaimed. "Help! Help! Somebody! Anybody, help! Someone get me out of here, help!"

He continued doing the same thing for about ten minutes, then grew tired of banging and shouting. He sighed with frustration, then sat down alongside the elevator wall. He put his legs up against his chest, put his arms in his lap, then exhaled heavily.

"This is not good," he said, resting the back of his head on the wall. He again sighed and closed his eyes, hoping and praying the next time he opened them he'd be out of the small area and on the main floor of the hospital.

* * *

Lulu fluttered her eyes open to find herself still imprisoned in the small, dark room she was in when first arriving she believed. She had dozed off after several hours of thinking of possible escape attempts and plans that all turned out to have major flaws in them. She had to get out of there and find Felix, Arnie, and Walmer. They were in danger, and she had to stop Lobster and his men before he assassinated a country's leader and rob their government with a high amount of money. There was just one issue; how the hell would she do it?

Lulu looked around the room, hoping to find something that might be of some use to her. She spotted her gun in the far right corner of the room, but that was nothing to her currently. The only thing it was use for was self defense and even that she could not do in her current predicament. She then scanned the rest of the area in front of her, possibly to find a key or pick one of the men she had seen earlier had dropped. Again, she found nothing useful. The most handy thing she found to use for escape was some small collection of rocks brought in from gravel, and that would be as good as not using one at all.

She lay her head back against the cold brick wall and closed her eyes. There had to be a way out of this cell. There just _had_ to be some way. She was James Bond's daughter, and James Bond had been able to walk and talk his way out of just about any scrap that came barreling its way towards him. Trapped in cells, strapped to metal tables being almost cut in half by lasers, beaten and battered by villainous minions, being poisoned, he had managed to find a solution to his obstacles and defeated the bad guy in a snap. If he had been able to conquer all of that and much more, she could figure a way out of the drafty, cold cell she was currently being held hostage in.

With determination burning within her and fearlessness filled in her eyes, she continued searching for a possible solution to her problem. She then felt something sitting beside her and grew perplexed by it. Lulu looked down to see it was her purse still strapped around her. An idea forming in her head, she craned her neck over to the right, grabbed her purse's strap by her teeth, and pulled it up as close to her hands as possible. It took about four tries to master her task, but soon enough had the bag in the tight grasp of her hands.

Turning her head upwards, she took her left hand and grabbed the zipper of her purse. Being as steady as can be, she slowly unzipped the main compartment and reached inside blindly. When she felt the object she was searching for finally in her hand, she gave a small smile of mischief and victory, and carefully pulled it out. She held onto her lock pick as tight as she could, the option of accidentally dropping it onto the ground not acceptable.

Lulu dropped her purse down onto the ground with a soft 'thud', then placed the lock pick in her right hand slowly. She stuck her tongue out to the side, her teeth slightly biting down on it, and craned her neck to the upper left to see where the lock on her handcuffs were. Finding the keyhole, Lulu carefully moved her lock pick inside the keyhole and fumbled with the cuff for a long while before hearing a 'click'. A bright smile grew on her face and freed her left hand.

Placing the pick in her opposite hand, Lulu proceeded with the same process she had done to free left hand. It took longer this time due to using her non-dominant hand to unlock the cuff, but soon enough had both arms and hands back in her control. Sighing with relief, she stretched both arms out to rid them of their soreness and kinks from being in one position for so long. Once her hands and arms were stretched out, she unlocked her ankles with a breeze and hurried to the right corner her firearm lay. She picked it up and placed it back in its holster underneath her dress.

Once assured that she had everything needed, she quietly approached the cell door and examined it closely. She needed to unlock it as silently as possible and open it without making a creaky noise. Pursing her lips, she put her hands on her hips and thought carefully of how she could execute her task without being noticed by any of Lobster's mobsters.

She got on her tiptoes and looked through the small door window to see for anybody nearby. Nothing but a vacant hallway and a double door entrance halfway down the right.

Lulu took her chances, grabbed her lock pick, and began her escape. It took her less than five minutes before she finally heard a soft 'click'. Grinning, Lulu put her lock pick away in her purse, made one last check for anyone in the nearby area, then slowly opened the heavy metal door. Once there was enough room, she slipped out through the small opening and managed to close the door silently.

With her gun tightly held in her right hand and eyes sharp as a hawk, Lulu began her prowl through the hallway towards the double doors and looked through the windows quick to see if anyone was there. She saw a man in mob clothing, Lobster's man named Mancini, standing guard at the front of another door. Where it lead to, she had yet to find out.

Seeing that Mancini's back was towards her, Lulu opened the door with stealth, kept her eyes fixed on her target, and slowly approached him until she stood about three feet from him.

She raised her gun high above her head, gathered every ounce of strength within her, and smashed it down on the mobster's head.

Mancini fell to the ground with a loud 'oompf' and became unconscious.

Lulu hovered above the man's body, her eyes glowering at him in pure hate and malice. This man had worked for the Mafia boss that had killed an innocent Chinese spy, who planned on threatening the entire country of China to crash into obliteration, and most of all, the one who had been responsible for losing her best friend. She had never felt more disgust and enmity towards another human being in her entire life. She had no empathy, no mercy, no heart towards Lobster. There was nothing. She was as empty as a black hole in outer space, her eyes growing dark and fire brimmed within them.

As she was about ready to go on a blind mad rage, Lulu then remembered one of the last things M had told her to keep in mind while on her assignment:

 _Do not turn this into a personal vendetta, my dear. That's when you will start to find yourself in trouble and grave danger. It's alright to be angry and to remember who you're fighting for, but do not make it the main reason of your assignment._

Lulu closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. She was riled up, filled with anxiety and adrenaline, and could feel her blood boiling in her veins. All things that she had been told that were dangerous to control her in these situations. She kept reminding herself of M's words, the millions of lives in China she had to protect, and then her father came to mind. His coolness of a cat, his calm mindset, the bravery and strength he had possessed so well, he had been the exact definition of what a spy was and what they did. It was no brainer why so many had looked up to him in this line of work. Why so many _still_ looked up to him.

Once her body began to relax and had all those thoughts in mind, Lulu slowly opened her eyes, took in a deep breath of determination, and coolly made her way towards the door. She gripped the doorknob, silently opened it, and made her way swiftly inside with the door closing behind her softly.

* * *

Inside a large, spacious room was a grated metal platform that was about 50 feet tall supported by stationary metal bars, support beams, and had a ladder attached on one side. On the other side was a massive swimming pool about 15 feet from the platform and contained two full grown great white sharks.

Leaning against the railings on the top, Lobster looked down at his sharks, imagining the moment he would throw Lulu down into the pool to be eaten alive. The moment that the Bond name would officially die and cease to exist anymore. His years of planned vengeance finally satisfied and defended his father's work and success he had while alive. He was brought out of his thoughts, when Mazzanti made his way over to his leader. Colombo was at the end of the platform scanning that area for any intruders.

"008 is tightly secured in her holding cell. She won't be going anywhere for a while, Sir," he said.

"Good. The longer she's out of the way, the better."

"How long do you plan on keeping her alive."

Lobster gave a low chuckle.

"Long enough for her to see the assassination of Chairman Mao and the failure associated with her father's name." The Mafia boss answered.

"And the other two still out there. The teenaged boy and man. What do we do with them?"

"I haven't decided yet. The boy's useless to us and our least main threat. The man I suspect is working with 008 on this assignment. He was the same one with 007 that night in Hyde Park when I shot him. As what I will do with him once I get rid of 008 still remains in the air. Right now, my priorities are on getting rid of Miss Bond and Chairman Mao. China will be defenseless without their country's leader. I'll be able to bleed the government dry of their money and be the richest leader in the world. North Korea will then follow lead, then Vietnam, soon all of Eastern Asia will be under my command."

"And when does the blame on London for Chairman Zedong's death happen?"

"Three days after the assassination itself. I will go to police forces and say an agent sent from MI6 in London liquidated the Chairman in the fear for the spread of communism. China declares war on Great Britain, then it's _così a lungo, Londra_."

"And with the government distracted with foreign affairs, gaining access to China's Department of Treasury will be effortless."

" _Esattamente_."

Unbeknownst to the three above, Lulu quietly made her way inside the area and was in brief awe of just how big the room was. Her mind quickly snapped back to her main focus and continued making her way further inside. She quickly opened her purse, grabbed her inhaler, and put it in the side pockets of her dress. She then abandoned her purse by the side of the structure, looked up to see Lobster and his men, spotted the ladder leading up to the top, and began her climb to the final fight she had been longing for since arriving in Shanghai.

Lulu made it to the top, refused to look down at how high up she was, and made her way forward on the platform. She stopped once she was far enough inside, had her gun ready in aim, and took in one last breath to calm her nerves. She could do this, she told herself. She had the people of China to protect. She had M, Q, Lorraine, and Moneypenny back in London cheering her on, and Felix and Arnie there with her in Shanghai. Then the most important person to her. Her father was there looking after her and supporting her with every step she had taken so far and every step she would take afterwards. He may have not been there physically, but she could feel him and his gentle, warm arms wrapping around her, letting her know she could do this.

She felt a small smile grow on her face and a small flame of bravery inside her with that, then snapped into her 00 agent mindset quickly. She concealed all signs of fear and anxiety with a mask of concentration and slyness, then gathered all the energy she would need for her final battle.

Resembling her father, she gave a small, mischievous grin and cocked her head slightly to the right, looking straight at her target.

"Enjoying the view there, Lobster?" She asked, insidious.

The Mafia boss, Mazzanti, and Colombo turned to face her and went into a brief moment of shock seeing her there. It was instantly replaced with looks of hate and sinister thoughts.

"You! How did you get out?!" Lobster demanded.

Lulu's grin grew a bit wider, her eyes sparkling with cunningness.

"I was feeling a little restless." She answered, smart. "Perhaps next time you'll search a lady's purse before deciding to hold her for hostage."

"Boys! _Ottenere il suo_!"

Not needing translation for the command, Lulu was quick on her feet and fled the area she was last standing. She took down one aisle of the platform, each separated by metal railings, and ran into the next one, dodging down every time there was a gunshot heard. She fired her gun back in response behind her shield, but kept missing her target each time by a few inches or less.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself. "How do you work this thing?"

Seeing Lobster's men turning to enter the aisle she was in, Lulu snapped to her feet and made her way down the next aisle over.

" _Uccidere lei! Uccidere lei_!" Lobster barked, over the gunfire.

Lulu ran down the next aisle, ducked down for hiding, then took her gun and loaded it. She gave a shaky breath and returned her eyes to look around the area for Mazzanti and/or Colombo.

"Q…you better hope I figure out how to use this thing," she said, soft. The gun she was only used to firing was her father's old Italian Beretta 950 back home for security purposes. Because of the gun's history of jamming and malfunctioning, M had requested Q to give her the same Walther PPK that her father had owned.

Lulu took in one more breath of air to calm her nerves, then she got to her feet and started running.


	17. Chapter 17: 'Had Your Match, Miss Bond'

**Chapter 17: 'You've Had Your Last Match, Miss Bond!':**

Once arriving to the Huasheng Building, Felix bolted through the doors and down the stairs leading towards the basement. With his gun tight in his grasp, and his mind focused on one task, he made his way down into the bottom layer of the building. It had several hallways and made a high resemblance to the hallways you would see in a hospital: white marble tiling, white doors, white walls, and white ceilings. It was accompanied with absolute silence. There was not a single sound to be heard within yards from where the CIA agent currently stood.

Slightly irked, Felix continued with his mission to find and save Lulu, his facial expression completely fixed and expressionless. It was one of those many moments in his career where he needed to remain as calm as possible, or it would mean possible danger to him and more importantly, more danger for Lulu.

He remained on high alert, slightly on the edge, and continued his way through the basement, searching for any trace of his girl or where she might have been. He turned right down a hallway and continued his trek, when he spotted a black metal door that stood out from the other doors surrounding the area. Felix raised an eyebrow and slowly made his way towards the room entrance.

Once standing face to face with it, the American looked through the bar protected window to see if anyone was inside. After he scanned the entire room for anyone, he tugged at the door handle and found it to be unlocked. He entered inside, took out a small flashlight from his pocket, and flashed it around the room. He confirmed that the room was abandoned after another thorough search. Felix put the flashlight back in his pocket, exited the room, and silently closed the door behind him. He then looked down his right and saw the doubled doors Lulu had previously gone through to find Lobster.

Taking a hunch on where the young spy had gone, Felix gripped his pistol tighter, ready to fire at any moment, when a man burst through a door on his left and ran towards him.

"Felix," the voice said. It sounded too familiar to the American.

The CIA snapped his head towards the left, ready to fire and kill, when he spotted who it was and nearly felt his heart stop beating. In front of him was a man wearing black shoes, gray trousers, and a white, long sleeved, button up shirt with a black tie. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and was about 6'0" tall. It was James.

"James!" Felix cried, almost dropping his firearm.

"Where's Lulu?" The 00 agent asked, catching his breath.

"How did you survive?!"

"I'll explain later, where's Lulu? Where's my daughter?"

"Down this way. I think she might be trying to fight Lobster and his men."

Grabbing his own gun from his left pants pocket, James and Felix sprinted down the hall in hopes to finding Lulu nearby and in safe condition. It was the first time in ages where both men felt it difficult to remain calm.

* * *

Running back and forth through aisles, Lulu kept exchanging fire with Mazzanti and Colombo. The two men would duck down for cover when she fired, and she would do the same in response to their fire. She was finally starting to figure out how to use her weapon and was getting closer to her target each time.

She had finally returned to the spot she had started from and was met with Mazzanti coming at her from the left. Lulu snapped her head towards the man and fired her gun, hitting the guy right in the middle of his chest. Mazzanti put his arm around his upper abdomen, gave a short cry, then fell down over the railings onto the cold, white tiled flooring. Lulu could not resist the brief smile of success that grew on her face. She had just successfully shot her target with a new, unfamiliar gun to her. She could not help but be proud. It was immediately replaced with a stone cold face and resumed her task at hand.

Colombo started making his way towards Lulu from the right, his face filled with anger. Spotting the man, she started sprinting to the left and continued firing shots. She had yet to master shooting while on the move with the weapon. Colombo managed to dodge them each time just she was able to do with his shots.

"Shoot her, damn it! _Velocemente! Velocemente_!" Lobster demanded.

Hearing his boss's commands, Colombo tried to up his game and make more accurate shots, but he was no match to the swift, little spy. She weaved through aisles, dodged bullets, and made precise gun fires like any other professional 00 agent. How she had wished M had been there to watch her now. Lulu continued her complete focus on nothing else but Colombo. She would worry about Lobster later. Concentrating on nothing but the two guns in play, Lulu hurried down the aisle she was currently in and made an attempt at shooting whenever she found it appropriate.

On the ground floor, James and Felix sprinted into Lobster's lair and began searching for Lulu. Neither of them could spot her anywhere, but saw Mazzanti lying dead on the ground beside the huge metal platform.

"Where is she? I don't see her!" James ordered.

Felix turned his head upwards and spotted her.

"There! She's up there!" He answered, pointing up to the top of the platform.

The 00 agent turned his head in the direction his friend was looking at and spotted his daughter making constant dodges and escapes from Colombo. When they saw Lulu make another fire at Lobster's man, both James and Felix ran to the other side of the platform and continued to watch, ready to jump in and assist whenever the young spy needed it.

The American turned to his right and spotted the huge shark pool.

"James," he said.

The 00 agent turned to face his friend.

"You think Lobster plans on…"

"If he does, he'll be wishing to join them once I get a hold of him."

Both men returned their eyes upward and watched the encounter between Colombo and Lulu.

Lulu made another shot from her spot at Colombo, but the man dodged out of the way. In response, the man fired back, but the 00 agent was too quick for him. She jumped down to the ground and rolled on her side to make it to the other end of the aisle.

Colombo went to fire again, when nothing happened. His gun had run out of ammo. Tossing it off the structure, he began making his way over to start physical contact in attempt to stop Lulu.

The young spy spotted the man coming full speed at her and prepared herself to use the ninjutsu her father had taught her for an attack. Once the man finally reached her, Lulu grabbed him tight by the shoulders, shook him from side to side, then threw him over the railing with all the strength in her body.

Colombo screamed all the way down, and fell dead silent once crashing onto the floor about ten feet from the shark pool. He died instantly from the blunt force trauma.

Watching from below, James gave a small smile, his face brightening up at the bravery and strength his daughter was showing.

"That's my girl," he said, soft.

Lulu watched the man fall to his death with little to no reaction from it.

"Well," she said, after the man landed. "He took quite the downfall."

Lulu was brought out of her thoughts, when she heard someone starting to approach her. She turned her head to the right to see Lobster making his way towards her, having the appearance of someone suffering from psychosis.

Pulling her gun out and having it aimed right at the man, the 00 agent backed up against the end of the platform against the railings and wall. She watched him carefully, her eyes never leaving sight of him. Though fear and anxiety were starting to grab hold of her nerves, Lulu kept her face neutral and composed. She looked more like a hardened criminal than a riled up spy.

Once the Mafia boss was standing less than 12 feet from his opponent, Lobster came to a halt, his pistol ready in aim for any sudden movements from Lulu, and stared down the young girl in hopes to intimidate her. Sadly, she refused to give the man any satisfaction. Her only response was staring straight back at him in the same cold manner.

"You look just like your father did." He hissed.

Lulu kept her facial expression the same, swallowing down her growing fear of exposure to her real identity.

"I don't know what you're talking about. My father died in an airplane accident years ago." She lied, her voice icy.

"Give it up, 008; I know who you really are. Or should I call you by your real name: Lulu Alydia Bond. Father James Andrew Bond. Otherwise known as 007." Lobster said, snarling her name and her father's codename.

He got no response.

"I know everything there is to know about you and your father. Everything from hair color to latest assignment from MI6. Your mother was murdered by an unknown killer at the age of two, lived in London your whole life, blood type AB+, have one best friend, and currently attending public high school as a sophomore."

Again, he received no answer. He continued.

"As for your father, he was born in Scotland, has the same blood type as you, both his parents died in a mountain climbing accident at age eleven, lived with his aunt for the remainder of his childhood, went to college, and served in the Royal Navy before starting his work as a 00 agent at MI6. I also have knowledge of all the men your father fought during his life: Dr. Julius No, Colonel Rosa Klebb, Auric Goldfinger…shall I go on?"

Feeling her body begin to shiver a bit, Lulu fought against it and shook her head. She would not allow him to see her fear, and she would not back down until she had finished her assignment and got her father's justice.

"I'm not afraid of you…I may be little, but I'm not afraid of you!" She spat, gripping her gun tighter.

"You're brave for a little girl…admirable," Lobster said, his gaze fixed on her.

Lulu did not respond. She put her finger on the trigger of her gun, preparing herself for fire.

"Stay quiet all you like, Miss Bond; it won't help you anymore than it is now. He may have succeeded in killing them, but he certainly didn't succeed with me!"

"You may have killed my father, but I'm not dying that easy!"

"Your father died from heart failure."

" _You_ caused his heart failure! Just like you caused Ying's murder and Mr. Walmer's disappearance!"

"Mr. Walmer is dead. I had my men attack him the same night of your kidnapping. They were supposed to do away with him in whatever manner they wished, and it was decided that suffocation was the best way for the man to go."

Lulu could feel her blood beginning to boil inside her veins. Biting her tongue and keeping her spiraling emotions in check, she answered with her eyes glowering at him.

"I suppose you work for SPECTRE then?"

"I work alone, Miss Bond. I don't need an organization telling me what I can and can't do."

"Then why kill Chairman Mao?! Only an organization would plan such a high act of a crime!"

"So I can put blame on London and have China go to war with them. They blow your homeland up in flames and such a thing as a 00 agent never exists again. Your spies, MI6, your country left in nothing but ruins. I'll keep you alive long enough to see Chairman Mao's assassination and China's declaration of war on Great Britain, then you'll be exterminated…unless you wish to keep pushing your luck like you're doing now."

"What's that, then?"

"What's what?"

"That behind you."

"Not falling for it."

"I'm serious."

Lobster raised his eyebrow slightly, then turned to look from behind him. As soon as he turned his head, Lulu made a run for it to the next aisle over.

The mob boss turned back to face the agent and saw she had evacuated the area. He growled and started firing his gun while on the chase for the girl.

Lulu dodged his shots and fired back, but failed to make any hits herself. When her gun ran out of bullets, she dodged down behind the safety of the railings and metal walls separating each aisle, refilled her gun, then jumped out again and resumed exchanging fire.

Lobster continued on his chase, and the young spy continued on her run until she returned to the same aisle she started in. She made it a little more than a fourth of the way down, when she realized something was off. Lulu looked down and saw that her gun was no longer in her hand. She swallowed her anxiety and started to rapidly look for it. She saw it in front of her just barely 25 feet away at the beginning of the aisle and started making her way quickly back to her weapon, when she stopped and saw Lobster bend over to pick it up.

The Mafia boss turned it a few times in his hands, looked at it briefly, then tossed it off the side of the platform.

Lulu's eyes widened in horror, and turned to see how far it dropped. She quickly saw its destination, swallowed a huge knot in her throat, and felt her fear only intensify.

Her gun slowly fell down 50 feet into a huge pool containing two great white sharks full grown. She felt her body begin to shake slightly, when she saw one of the sharks appear above water and ingested her only weapon.

Coming out of her initial shock quickly, Lulu turned to look back at Lobster and watched him carefully. Hearing the man starting to softly chuckle made a chill run up and down her spine.

"Try fighting without that," he said, with malice.

The young 00 agent kept a straight face and blazing eyes, but she could feel her body beginning to rattle. She had nothing left to protect herself but her intelligence and ninjutsu self defense she had been taught since a little kid.

"You're stepping on thin ice, 008…listen to my orders, and I might just spare your life for now unlike your waste of a father." He hissed.

"You leave my father out of this!" Lulu spat.

"A daddy's girl, huh…too bad it'll serve you no purpose in your current predicament."

Lulu peered her eyes into the man and fought back a snarl. She would not back down to this man. She would die before letting that happen.

"You're afraid…that's why you wanna kill me…you're afraid you'll never be as strong as 007!" She seethed.

"I wish to be nothing like that man. He was weak. A fool. A cold-blooded murderer."

"LIAR!"

"My father died at the hands of that man, and you're defending him?!"

"Your father killed over a hundred thousand people! My father killed one! And if losing your father hurt you that much, then why'd you go and kill mine?! Wouldn't you want to spare people of that pain instead?!"

Lobster said nothing for a brief moment, his eyes glossing over. It looked like he had just entered some state of lunacy, when he spoke again.

"I can't have my father, so why should anyone else deserve to have theirs?"

Lulu stared at the man in shock and started shaking her head. He was a mentally unstable, ill man that needed to be in a psychiatric hospital more than a federal prison. He had no empathy towards others, the want for total power, and the need to eliminate anyone who stood in his way of that goal. It reminded her of the many things she had heard of about Dr. No from her father. The cold, dead eyes, the lack of emotions regarding other civilians, she began to wonder if Lobster had ever had any affiliation with him in the past.

"What kind of monster are you?" She barely croaked, feeling small convulsions consume her slowly.

Without another word, the mob boss fired his gun and caught Lulu by surprise. Unfortunately for her, it was enough of a shock that she did not get a chance to dodge out of the way and was struck in the upper right abdomen. She wrapped her left arm around her midsection, let a loud whelp, and collapsed to the ground on her knees, grabbing hold of the platform railings with her right hand.

"No," James said loudly, looking up at the scene taking place. He grew with fire and rage, had his pistol in aim, and started making his way over, when Felix stopped him with his left arm.

"Don't, James," the American said.

"That's my daughter up there, and you want me to stand here and do nothing?" The British agent spat back.

"You'll put her in more danger than she's already in…she's got this, James."

The 00 agent gave a shaky sigh and turned his eyes back towards Lobster and Lulu, his gun tight in his grasp. He would remain ready to fire if he felt the need for it at any moment. The last thing he would allow to happen was to stand back and do nothing while watching his sweet daughter die at the hands of such a psychopath.

Lulu began to cough and seemed to only progress worse. Her throat felt like it was closing in on itself, and her lungs felt tight. She began to feel inside her left dress pocket to find nothing. She continued to search in slight frantic, when she heard a low chuckle from in front of her.

"Looking for this, 008?" Lobster questioned, holding her inhaler.

Lulu tried stretching her arm out to grab it, but struggled in her weakened state. The Mafia boss pulling it away from her made the task even more of a challenge.

Lobster gave a callous grin, then turned to look at his sharks.

"Hey, boys! Got another appetizer for yah!" He cried, and tossed the life saving medical device plunging for its death. It was soon engulfed by one of the sharks.

The young 00 agent began wheezing and coughing violently.

"Uncle…Felix." She gasped.

"He can't help yah now, kitten. There's no one else but me around here." Lobster remarked, his pistol steady and in aim of the girl.

"My God, tell me I'm not witnessing what I think I am," James said, just barely above a whisper.

"She's having an asthma attack," Felix said, swallowing his growing anxiety.

Lobster grabbed Lulu roughly off the ground and turned her to face the pool of sharks. He held her by the back of her dress and had the pistol pointed in the back bottom of her head.

By that point, Lulu was growing hot and starting to sweat slightly. Her face was starting to turn pink, her wheezing was becoming more forceful, and could feel nothing but fear at that point. Afraid for the people of China. Afraid for Arnie and Felix. Afraid to fail M and not complete her mission. Afraid of dying most of all. She could not die. She _refused_ to die. She had to stay conscious and turn her fear into energy. After she had killed Lobster she did not care, but she would not die before hand.

"Looks like it's the end of a name, 008. Tell me, how does it feel knowing the Bond name will go down in history as a disgrace?" The mob boss asked, grinning like a cat who had just caught its prey.

Lulu's only response was her wheezing as she stared down at what would more than likely be the end of her. She wanted to do nothing more at that moment then break down and cry. She was scared, tired, in pain, and afraid to fail her father. How she prayed that he was there with her now. To help her and let her know she could still do this and win. She closed her eyes tight, felt tears burn down her face, continuing wheezing, and started to remember everything that everyone she loved had told her since this all started:

" _No child of mine will be a coward," her father said._

" _You're James Bond's daughter. You can do anything you put your mind to," M's voice said._

" _Make him proud, 008," Q's voice said, next._

" _Finish him off like your father would have wanted to," Arnie said._

" _My courage is right there inside you," her father said, finally._

Her loved ones' words giving her every amount of energy left in her and a growing fire of confidence and courage she had never felt before, Lulu jerked herself out of Lobster's grasp, snapped around to the back of him, and shoved him as hard as she could off the ledge of the platform. She glared down in disgust and anger, as the man screamed and fell to his watery grave.

Lobster landed into the pool with a huge and loud 'splash', then one of the sharks appeared above the water and grabbed his body inside his mouth. There was soon a stream and faint tint of red beginning to swirl around the massive pool.

Once he had fell, Lulu bent over and held onto the railing on her right, closed her eyes tight, wrapped her left arm around her belly again, and resumed her malicious wheezing, her stomach and lungs screaming in pain each time she tried sucking oxygen in.

"I…can't breathe," she gasped, her breathing growing rapid.

She continued wheezing before her mind started flooding with memories. Her father smiling at her as he died in the hospital, Lobster's psychopathic face, flashes of the last conversation with her father, snippets of her meeting with M, fighting Lobster's men and the mob boss himself, hugging her father in his dinner suit, her, Arnie, and Felix investigating the suburbs of Shanghai, Lobster telling her she could not do it and that it was over, meeting and working with Walmer, her many crying spells from the attacks caused by insufferable grief, Lobster's face beaming as he gave his wicked and loud cackle, the laugh mixing in with her screaming how she never wanted to be spy and wanted to go home, dancing with Arnie in their first nightclub, Chairman Mao and the many followers saluting him at a huge speech cheering and chanting, Lobster barking 'He may have succeeded in killing them, but he certainly didn't with me!', and finally her father closing his eyes for the last time and passing away.

As the last memory faded, Lulu's face drained of all color, rolled her eyes, and fell 50 feet to the ground.

"NO!" Felix yelled.

James sprinted at full speed towards his falling daughter, then grabbed her tight in his arms and knelt down on the ground with her. Felix soon joined them and shivered at the sight of how pale Lulu actually was.

"She's not breathing," the British agent said, fear slightly heard in his voice.

"I'm calling an ambulance." Felix answered, running off to the other side of the room with his walkie talkie.

While the American contacted emergency medical services, James tried to get his daughter to start breathing and wake up by gently shaking her.

"Come on, Lulu. Come on, darling, wake up. Wake up, Lulu, wake up," he pleaded softly.

He got no response from the little girl.

"Hello?…Yes, I need an ambulance immediately at the Huasheng Building and in the basement. A little girl's been shot and had an asthma attack…no, she's not breathing, and she's not conscious," Felix said, trying to keep calm over the phone. He turned his eyes towards James, hopeful he had made Lulu come to. Sadly, his friend had lain his daughter down gently on the floor and began the process of CPR.

"Come on, Lulu, open your eyes. Wake up, darling, open your eyes!" James kept begging.

He received no answer. She did nothing, but lie there with her eyes closed.

James continued CPR, and both agents began saying silent prayers that their little Lulu would come to and be okay again.


	18. Chapter 18: My Little Clementine

**Chapter 18: My Little Clementine:**

An ambulance rushed through the city streets of Shanghai approximately around 10:30 that night to and from Huasheng Building to Renji Hospital with Felix and James following not too far behind in a cab they had pulled over in a hurry.

Both agents waited impatiently in a hospital waiting room on the fourth floor, as they waited for news on how Lulu was doing. She had been taken into surgery shortly after arrival to the emergency room and put on advanced life support to help revitalize her lungs and breathing airways.

Felix paced back and forth across the room, his mind going wild with anxiety, while James sat in a chair tapping his foot vigorously. Both were anxious to hear news from anyone regarding Lulu and had heard nothing so far. It had been almost five hours since she had been brought into surgery and could find out nothing from anybody. Either no one spoke English or were too busy to take notice to an American and British person's needs.

"It's been over five hours, why haven't we heard of anything?" Felix asked, his patience gone. By that time, it was around 3:20AM.

"I don't know, but I better hear something soon. This 'not knowing' is making me go crazy," James said, staring out the wide waiting room window at the nightlife in Shanghai.

"I just don't get it…I left her for five minutes…how did he get to her in five minutes?" The American began to choke up. If Lulu did not pull through, he would never forgive himself. It had been his duty to protect the young girl when her father had not been able to, and he might have just violated that line of duty. Knowing that fact just about killed him on the inside. Lulu had to live. She just _had_ to. He knew if otherwise, it would destroy James. She was the man's entire universe and only family he had. He had nothing without her. The 00 agent had already lost his parents, aunt, and a wife in his life; could he live after losing his only child on top of it all?

James put his hands in between his legs, looked down at the floor, and tried to keep himself from mentally snapping. He needed to know if there was any news on his daughter's condition, but he had no idea who else to speak with other than the people he had already tried. He had never been more anxious than he was at that moment. No villain he had ever fought brought him more terror than the villain he was dealing with currently.

Not able to remain still any longer, the Englishman rose from his spot and began pacing back and forth across the room. He had his arms around his back and stared at the floor, praying it would make a doctor come out and tell them some sort of news on his daughter.

"Where the hell is that doctor?" He spat, just about to lose his final nerve.

Felix swallowed a growing lump in his throat, starting to think of the worst.

"What if she didn't…if she's…" James immediately cut him off, grabbing his colleague by the shoulders roughly and staring him down with eyes glowing in fury.

"Now, stop that! I don't want to hear any of that, got it?! None of it!"

The American froze, then slowly nodded without his eyes leaving the sight of his friend.

James released the man and went back to pacing, taking one of his hands and started rubbing his chin. When bad thoughts started to make their way inside his mind, he immediately shut them out and began to think of something else. Sadly, he had to keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. His mind just could not stop worrying about Lulu. Where was she? How was she? Was surgery over? Were they successful? Would she recover fully? He could not make any of those questions go away and leave him be. He was a 00 agent. 00 agents did not let their emotions get the better of them in scary or inconvenient situations. So why the hell was this one different from the other ones?

"I should've never listened to M's orders. I knew this was a bad idea the whole time, I should've stayed here," he said loudly.

"Lulu might still be here even if you _hadn't_ faked your death. We all knew she was at risk for being put in danger the moment Genovese set out his plans and murdered Ying." Felix answered, trying to get his friend to calm down.

"She wouldn't have been shot and suffered from an asthma attack had I'd been up there fighting Genovese instead of her!" James barked, snapping his head in the direction of the CIA agent.

"Genovese's dead, James. It's over, Lulu won!"

"Is this winning? Is an innocent little 16 year old girl possibly on her deathbed winning, Felix?!"

"Chairman Mao is safe. China is safe. Your homeland is safe. Lulu's a hero to this country and her own!"

"I don't care about any of that! I care about my daughter!" By that point, James had tears streaming down his face, his facial expression still angry and eyes burning with fire within them. The American had never seen him cry before. The 00 agent was always so calm and collected, even in tough and frightening situations. This time was different, though. This time, his daughter's life was at stake; not his. If she died, it would be the end for 007.

It was at that moment that an old Chinese doctor came into the waiting area. He wore glasses and had graying black hair that was starting to recede. He stood there in silence and waited for the two men to pay attention to him.

Sensing someone had entered the room, James and Felix turned their heads towards the entrance, saw the doctor, and hurried to him. Both of their faces held fear and anxiety within them.

"Dr. Teng, how is she?" Felix asked.

"Are one of you Miss Lulu's guardian?" The doctor asked, with a heavy Chinese accent.

"That would be me. I'm her father, James." The British agent answered, fighting back all emotions of worry and terror.

"She is out of surgery. It took us a little over four hours to do operation. Your daughter had terrible damage done to her, uh, diagram from the gunshot."

"Diaphragm," James said.

"Yes. We were able to repair it after serious care."

"What about her lungs? Were you able to get her breathing on her own again?"

"She is on oxygen help, but breathing herself mostly…we have had her in her room for an hour. She has no consciousness yet."

"What does that mean?"

Teng fell silent momentarily, his eyes holding sympathy for the man. He could tell from the Englishman's eyes just how much he loved that little girl.

"Your daughter is in critical condition. We are worried she will not wake up again," the doctor said, trying to speak as much proper English as possible.

"You mean she could…she might…" James could not finish his sentence. The possibility was not acceptable to him. A world without his Lulu was a world without sunshine or light. There was nothing but darkness and shadows left in that life. "Can I see her?" He finally croaked, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"Yes, she is currently being cared by nurse in her room," Teng said, soft.

James sprinted on his feet in desperate search for his daughter, while Felix stayed behind a bit longer to speak more with the doctor. When he finally found the room, James walked inside quietly to find a small woman dressed in white gently placing a warm, white blanket on the sleeping form in bed. It was Lulu.

The British agent hurried to her side and made his attention to the nurse.

"How is she?" James asked, begging to know.

"She is sleeping, Mr…"

"Bond."

"You her father?"

"Yes…how's my little girl?"

"Resting. She has not opened her eyes. We are worried for her."

"Is there anything you can do for her?"

"Dr. Teng has done all he can. Your daughter must be in charge now."

"May I sit with her?"

The nurse nodded and soon left the room, father and daughter finally alone with one another.

James watched the nurse until she was completely out of sight, then turned to look down at Lulu. His heart felt like breaking seeing the current condition of his sweet daughter.

Lulu was almost as pale as her bed sheets, had oxygen assistance leading in her nose, a hospital bracelet on her left hand, and an IV on her right hand with some gauze taped over on top. She was wearing a white hospital gown with a fuzzy, light pink bathrobe over it. Her head was slightly cocked to her left side, and her eyelids remained shut. She was completely motionless besides the falling and rising of her chest.

The British agent sat down gently on his daughter's left by her legs and watched her in complete silence, hoping to see some sort of sign of her regaining consciousness. When he saw none, he stretched his hand out and started running his fingers through her soft hair and began to tremble. He could feel his emotions grabbing a hold of him and used every last ounce of strength inside him to keep from breaking. He swallowed a knot down and found the energy to speak.

"Hey there, darling…Papa's here, Papa's got you…you got to wake up now, baby. I want to see those pretty blue eyes of yours, you got to open your eyes now…" He stopped, feeling his eyes burning with water. There was nothing he wanted more than to do something and make Lulu all better again. Not knowing if she would live or not was enough to drive him mad. Out of anyone in the human race, there was no one he did not want to lose more than his sweet little daughter. His life was over if he lost her.

James continued running his fingers through Lulu's hair and gently rubbing her cheek and chin, hoping it would provoke some sort of movement from her. He got nothing for a response, then found the strength to sing her lullaby softly in the key of D major. He had not sang it since Lulu was seven years old, but felt it necessary now. He needed to let her know her father was there and would make sure no one hurt her again.

" _Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Clementine, you are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine…In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, dwelt a miner-forty niner, and his daughter, Clementine…Oh my darling…oh my darling…oh my sweet, little Lulu…you're alright and safe forever, oh my little…_ " He stopped briefly, tears streaming down his face. " _Sweet Lulu_."

The British agent had not noticed Felix was standing behind him and leaning against the door frame while singing. When he had finally finished, the American stepped further inside and made his way towards his friend and the little girl he loved like his own. Felix stopped next to a chair near the nightstand and looked down at Lulu, fighting back his own emotions in order to comfort his friend in his time of need.

"How is she?" The CIA agent finally asked.

"She hasn't done a thing," James said, his voice breaking.

"Come on, Lu…open your eyes, sweetheart."

There was no response.

James began to shudder and cry gently.

"I can't lose her…I can't lose her…" He wept.

Felix gulped, letting his own tears fall.

"She's strong like her father…she can fight this," he said, meek.

The 00 agent hung his head and continued to cry silently, praying to God for a miracle and to give him back his daughter.

Lulu's eyes barely opened for a second, then closed again. They started to flutter shortly afterwards and slowly began to wake up. Once her vision settled in, she turned her head slightly towards her left and saw Felix standing there with his eyes closed. She swallowed to help the dryness in her throat until she was able to speak softly.

"Uncle Felix…"

The American and James snapped their heads to face Lulu and found her looking up at Felix with tired and curious eyes.

"Oh, thank God," Felix said, just barely above a whisper.

James's face brightened like the sun, tears still falling down his cheeks. She was okay. Lulu was going to be okay.

"What happened?…Where am I?" The young girl asked, her voice with a tint of fear in it.

"You're in the hospital, kiddo. You were shot and had a pretty bad asthma attack, remember?" Felix answered, soft.

Lulu thought for a brief moment before speaking again. She could remember sounds and the difficulty breathing, but everything else was blurry. The last thing she remembered clearly was being in a big room with a tall metal platform, running away from two strange men, and firing her gun at them. There was a third man, too, but she could not make him out for some reason.

"I remember being shot and not able to breathe…there was shouting and screaming…I don't know after that."

"That's just fine for now. You just relax for the moment. You've had a long night." The American responded.

Lulu turned her head to look in front of her and froze when spotting who was sitting there. Wearing gray pants, a white, long sleeved button up shirt, and a black tie was her father. He was smiling at her, his eyes twinkling bright.

"Papa," she said silently. Lulu turned to look back at Felix. "Did I die?"

James and Felix could not help but chuckle.

"No, sweetheart, you are very much alive," the 00 agent said, with a grin.

The young girl was baffled. How was her father sitting there in front of her? How had he survived? She was there the night he died and saw him be wheeled off to the morgue. How was he there with her?

"Papa…how…how are you here?" She quivered.

"I faked my death, darling. M felt you would be in less danger from Dr. Lobster if I were pronounced dead. The chances of him finding out a had a daughter were less likely that way," James said, hoping she would understand.

"How come you didn't tell me? I wouldn't have said anything."

"I know, darling. As much as I wanted to warn you, I couldn't. It was too dangerous of a risk I was not willing to take. The only other person that knew besides M and I was Dr. Harvey. I was given medicine that made me appear as deceased in order to pull my act off. As compromise, M allowed me to hire an agent to watch out for you once and awhile here in Shanghai, then report back to me at the hotel I was hiding out at in Nantong to know if you were alright or in any harm. I had him watch from a distance, however."

Lulu remembered the mysterious man she had chased out of the nightclub the night she was captured, and suddenly everything made sense to her about the man. He had not been working for Lobster; he had been working for her father.

"The man all dressed in black…the one who wore that black hat to hide his face," she said.

"That was him, love. I did not want anyone to know who he was or what he was doing, so I had him keep his identity hidden with all black clothing and fedora to cover his face from sight. The less he was seen, the better…I'll tell you all about it once you're feeling better again." James answered.

Lulu swallowed a growing knot in her throat and felt tears burning in her eyes. The one person she had wanted to see for so long, the one she had wanted to talk to and have back again in her life was right there with her. He was alive, smiling, and healthy as could be. She had her best friend back. The nightmare she had been living was finally over.

Not knowing what else to do, Lulu began to cry.

"Papa…" She wept. "Oh, Papa…"

James moved to sit right by her side and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight and began to hush her.

Lulu grabbed her father in her arms, leaned her head against his soft chest, and continued to softly sob, her breathing starting to be a bit off in order to keep her stomach and lungs from hurting.

"Sssshhhhhhh…" James said quietly. He continued running his fingers through her hair and held her close to him, letting her know she was alright and everything would be okay again. "I'm alright…everything's alright."

"Papa…don't leave me again." The little girl whimpered.

"I'm right here. I'm not going to leave you ever again," he said, with a smile. When he heard Lulu's breathing start to sound like gasping, he hushed her again. "You're alright, now. Take it easy…you need your rest now."

Lulu's crying eased away gradually and finally came to a stop, her face buried into her father's chest. She turned her head and lay against him, then James smiled and kissed the top of her head gently. It made her smile small, then she looked up at her father. Both exchanged the same message in their eyes and continued to hug one another.

Felix felt a wide grin grow on his face, then sat down in the chair by the bed. He was happy to see Lulu smiling and at peace again. He was also glad to see his good friend again. They had both missed his company.

"Papa?" Lulu asked.

"Yes, darling," James said.

"Where's Dr. Lobster?"

"He's dead, dear," Felix said. "You pushed him into a pool filled with great whites, remember?"

The young girl thought to herself for a moment, then recalled hearing the man screaming, but could not remember why.

"I remember him screaming…nothing else," she said, soft.

"It's alright, Little Lu. You just rest and get better quickly…you are one brave, young girl, kid," the American said.

"Of course she's brave. She's my daughter," James said, proud.

Lulu smiled and continued to lay her head against her father, who held her close and gave her another kiss on her forehead. She was about to start socializing with both men, when Arnie came rushing in looking in slight disarray.

"Lulu!" He gasped. He hurried to her side and sat down by Lulu's legs.

"Arnie!" The girl answered, relieved to see him.

"Where have you been?" Felix asked, turning to face the teenaged boy.

"I got stuck in an elevator here. I was finally searching for Mr. Walmer, when I heard Lulu had been brought in by ambulance. I dropped everything and made my way here as fast as possible."

The youngest agent began to frown, remembering her late friend's demise.

"Walmer's dead, Arnie…Lobster suffocated him," she said, quiet.

"He's dead?" The boy gasped.

"As dead as Lobster himself. Lulu pushed him off a platform and was eaten alive by two great white sharks." James clarified.

Arnie turned to look at the British agent, and his eyes nearly fell out of his head.

"Mr. Bond! You're alive!…But how?" He asked.

"Papa faked his death in order to keep my identity a secret…unfortunately, Lobster somehow found out who I was and sent his two men out for and captured me…Mazzanti and Colombo I believe were their names…nothing's really clear to me right now, though. Everything's blurry." Lulu answered.

"What happened to you, then?"

"Lulu was shot in her diaphragm by Lobster, and it struck a pretty severe asthma attack in result…she's gonna be alright, though. The worst is over," Felix said.

Arnie sighed with relief, sounding as if he had been holding his breath for a long while.

"I'm just glad you're gonna be alright…I couldn't imagine losing my best friend."

Lulu gave a tired smile, then leaned forward and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek. The action made her father instantly frown and scowl at his daughter's friend.

Arnie's face lit up and began to blush.

"I just got kissed by a girl…" He cleared his throat and regained composure. "Cool, cool."

"And don't expect to happen again." James replied, harsh.

Lulu giggled, then again wrapped her arms around her father.

Looking down at his daughter, James held her tight, gave her another kiss, then lay his head against hers and began to rock her gently. It was over. They had won.


	19. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

"It's good to have you back, 007," M said, sitting in his desk chair. It had been three months since Lobster died, and James had taken time off from work to be with Lulu after returning home from Shanghai. She was finally released from the hospital after a week of observation and had spent another four to six weeks resting at home and hanging out with her father while recovering. Lulu had finally gone back to school, and James returned to work once assured that his daughter was healthy and strong enough to be doing her daily routines again.

Felix had returned to the United States for work, and Arnie had been grounded for skipping a school day and sneaking out of the country to join Lulu and the American spy on their 'vacation'. The teenager was allowed to only go to school, his house, or visit Lulu at her place with her father's parental supervision. Most of the time it was him bringing school and homework to her and explaining what they had learned in classes in order to not fall behind in her studies. His punishment had finally been lifted a week earlier.

The British agent smiled at his boss. He was wearing a gray suit and black tie. It felt good to be home in London and living life as usual again.

"Thank you, Sir. I'm certainly glad to be back to work again myself," James said, standing before his boss, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets.

"You've been greatly missed by many, 007. I don't think you realize just how many lives you impact on a daily basis. How many lives love you and care for you. Your work and life are appreciated tremendously."

"You're getting sentimental in your old age, M."

"I mean it, 007. Especially to one very special little girl. You're her entire life, you know that."

James blushed slightly, not used to the praise and admiration he was receiving. No one ever gave him thanks for his successful missions or doing a job well done. He simply did his assignment and quickly moved onto the next after completing the previous one. Hearing that he made an impact in life and was looked up to and cared for by so many people was a bit uncomfortable to him, but at the same time made him feel warm inside. For the first time in a long while, he felt needed and cherished. It felt good.

"I appreciate your words, Sir. Thank you," the spy said, smiling. His face brightened more when thinking of the girl his boss was referring to. "She's my entire life, too."

M's only response was a small grin that appeared on his face, then gave a soft nod.

* * *

Moneypenny worked quietly at her desk doing paperwork, when the door to her office opened, and Lulu appeared. The young girl threw her blue beret to the coat rack like her father was known to do with his black hat, watched the beret hit the tip of one of the coat hangers, and fell to the ground with a soft 'thud'.

Lulu sighed, a small frown growing on her face.

"I have yet to learn that trick," she said, soft.

The blonde secretary smirked, glad to see the young spy again after her three month absence.

"Your father just went in not too long ago. Sounded important," Moneypenny said.

"What makes you say that?" Lulu asked, growing with curiosity.

"Darling, if they told me anything around here, I'd be able to answer most of your questions."

The young girl giggled, her eyes twinkling in the light. It made Moneypenny smile in response.

"How are you doing, dear? Haven't seen you since you left for Shanghai." The pretty secretary asked.

"Good…I went back to school a few days ago," Lulu said.

"I heard. How's that going?"

"Alright. Can't participate in gym class really yet, but it's going alright…I'm just glad Papa's back."

Moneypenny grinned and rubbed Lulu's arm gently.

"We all are, honey. He's a very good man," she said friendly.

The secretary's response from the teenager was a soft smile.

Moneypenny returned the same smile, then pushed a button on her comm and leaned forward slightly.

"M, your littlest agent is here," she said, with a grin.

" _Send her in, Miss Moneypenny. And tell her to bring in that little smile of hers_."

Lulu giggled softly at the reply.

Moneypenny patted the girl's arm gently, then watched Lulu make her way inside of M's office. She closed the red patted door behind her silently, smiled small, then made her way to her father's left side and leaned against him gently.

James looked down at her, his eyes twinkling, then wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. The response he received was Lulu's face lighting up and smile growing. The 00 agent grinned, then turned to face his boss once again.

M smiled and nodded at the young girl.

"Miss Lulu, how are you feeling, my dear?" The older man asked, genuinely concerned after learning of her illness in Shanghai.

"I'm still tired slightly, but I'm feeling a lot better," Lulu said, soft. She had known the man for most of her life, yet still became a bit shy in his presence. She did not know whether it was because she wanted to make herself appear professional for her father's sake, or because of the high title he held. Either way, she gave a timid smile and talked politely as usual.

"That's good to hear…you dealt with quite a bit in Shanghai: the loss and grieving of your father, investigating a premeditated murder, being kidnapped, a man who planned to assassinate a country's leader and stealing their money, being shot in combat…not many 16 year old girls would have been able to handle such tasks like you did."

Lulu blushed, feeling her cheeks grow warm.

"I did what I had to, Sir…China needed my help," she said.

"It did, but you managed to figure out clues, fight several mobsters, and dispatch one of the United States FBI's Most Wanted criminal minds all the while dealing with your own personal dilemma and fears. Your father and I are both very proud of you." M responded, his eyes and voice being sincere.

Lulu lay her head back against her father's chest and smiled. Feeling him hold her close and rub her arm gently made her only feel more warm on the inside. She felt content knowing she had not only made her father proud, but her father's boss as well. She rarely ever heard M give compliments and congrats to his agents on successful assignments, which made her feel even more honored to receive such words of gratitude.

"Thanks." She answered, bashful.

M smiled back at her.

"You did a good job, 008. Chairman Mao is alive, and China and its people are safe from harm," he said.

Lulu gave a sad smile, her mind beginning to remember someone in particular.

"I'm just sad about Walmer," she said. "He didn't deserve to die."

"Neither did Mr. Chiang, my dear. They shall be remembered for dying in their line of duty. Mr. Chiang for carrying out his assignment given to him by the CID, and Mr. Walmer for assisting and protecting you, Mr. Leiter, and your friend that traveled by your side."

Lulu nodded, then raised her eyebrow. She was puzzled as to why she had been called in to begin with. Was it just so M could tell her 'congrats', or was there another reason behind his orders?

"M," she began softly. "Why am I here? And why is Papa here?"

The man turned his attention to James.

"Have you ever been to Italy, 007?" M asked.

"Not since Lulu was a very, little girl. Why?" The British agent replied.

"We have reason to believe an old colleague of Dr. No's, a Mr. Lyle Ardizzone, is doing illegal work on radiation poisoning somewhere in Northern Naples. The report came in late last night. We suspect he has an alliance to SPECTRE just as Dr. No had and plans on bombing several important cities in the United States such as New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, San Diego, Miami, and New Orleans. It is believed from our contact that there are many more targets on that list and need him to be stopped immediately. I want you to fly out to Naples Friday night and begin your assignment as early as 7:00 that Saturday morning."

"Understood, Sir," James said, with a nod.

Lulu looked up at her father, her face suddenly draining of color. She looked back at M and swallowed a large lump in her throat.

"You're…you're sending Papa…to fight a possibly insane man?" She quivered, fear beginning to wrap itself around her.

"Yes, is there a problem with you on that, 008?" M answered, his voice growing serious.

The young girl started shivering slightly and shook her head in horror.

"No…no…send me, but not Papa. I can't lose him again, Sir… _forever_ this time." She responded, her voice both being respectful and shaking in terror. She could not lose her father a second time. Not when she knew it would be permanent this time around. She would snap. Every ounce of mental stability inside her would vanish if something happened to him. She had to protect him from danger, and was set to take his place in this assignment. She would take no other option for an answer.

"I know, dear. Which is why I'm sending you with him for assistance on this assignment…I think about you in these decisions, 008," the old man said, smoking a pipe.

Lulu's face seemed to light up like the sun, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I get to go on an assignment…with Papa?" She gasped.

M smirked, amused with the child's excitement.

"Indeed, little one. Mr. Leiter will meet you at _Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli_ at terminal four when you land a little after midnight." He answered. "I want to know what Ardizzone's plans are and for them to be terminated immediately."

"Papa," Lulu said, turning her head up at her dad. James looked down at his daughter, his fingers running gently through her hair. "Can Arnie come, too? Had it not been for his help in Shanghai, I don't know if you'd be standing here with me right now."

The spy thought it over briefly, then nodded.

"I don't see why not."

The little teenager gave a wide smile and hugged him tight. She closed her eyes, lay her head against her father's soft chest, and slightly buried her face into him. James's response was leaning forward, kissing the top of her head sweetly, and held her close to him while rubbing the back of her head.

"I love you, Papa," Lulu said, soft.

James gave a gentle smile.

"I love you, too…008." He answered, calling his daughter by her codename.

Lulu felt her grin grow a little more, then lay her head back against her father and continued to hug him. After three months of fear, mystery, and unknown adventure, she finally had things back the way she wanted them to be. She was attending school again, she had her best friend back, and most of all, she was home and now had an exciting future ahead of her working for MI6…right by her father's side. :)


End file.
